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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. court — of a king
  4. net — after costs
  5. field — farmland
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. net — in sport
  9. court — of law
  10. bound — obliged
  11. pitch — completely
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. court — for sport
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — tied together
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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