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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. clip — a video
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. court — of law
  15. field — farmland
  16. court — for sport
  17. land — a country
  18. sharp — clever
  19. field — a subject
  20. land — ground
  21. land — to come down
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wound — an injury
  24. clip — to cut

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