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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. court — of law
  3. ground — a position
  4. rule — government
  5. field — for sport
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. field — farmland
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. court — for sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ground — the earth
  14. court — of a king
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. field — a subject
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ground — crushed
  21. rush — hurry
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — a law

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