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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. court — of a king
  4. net — for catching
  5. rest — a break
  6. kick — in football
  7. net — after costs
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. net — in sport
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. charge — in control
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. court — of law
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. court — for sport
  21. field — for sport
  22. charge — electricity
  23. field — a subject
  24. charge — a price

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com