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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. court — for sport
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. swing — music
  5. field — for sport
  6. date — the fruit
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mug — a face
  10. fall — to drop
  11. court — of law
  12. field — a subject
  13. face — to confront
  14. mug — a cup
  15. face — to point toward
  16. swing — in golf
  17. kick — in football
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. face — part of the head
  20. court — of a king
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. swing — to play on
  24. field — farmland

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