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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 116 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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. field — a subject
  3. kid — to tease
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. capital — money
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. field — for sport
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. band — a ring
  13. court — of law
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. field — farmland
  24. capital — a city

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