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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — low music
  5. game — wild animals
  6. field — for sport
  7. spell — magic
  8. bass — the fish
  9. drill — the tool
  10. game — a match
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. court — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. drill — a practice
  20. spell — letters
  21. court — of a king
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — a short time
  24. drill — army training

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