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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 124 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. field — a subject
  4. court — of law
  5. net — after costs
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. sharp — clever
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. foot — a measure
  15. court — of a king
  16. field — for sport
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. net — for catching
  19. court — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — a phone
  23. game — a match
  24. net — in sport

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