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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. pitch — completely
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — for sport
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. court — of a king
  14. cold — not warm
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. court — of law
  19. field — farmland
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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