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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. court — for sport
  3. chair — a leader
  4. vault — a safe
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. field — farmland
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. court — of a king
  11. lie — to recline
  12. scale — in music
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. spring — of water
  15. court — of law
  16. scale — size or range
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — a subject
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. spring — a coil

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