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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. ball — a dance
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. ball — a great time
  8. content — happy
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. lie — to recline
  14. capital — a city
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. field — a subject
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. capital — money
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. sharp — clever
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. ball — a round shape

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