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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. row — a line
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. rash — a series
  9. clip — a video
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mark — a trace
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mark — a grade
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. field — a subject
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. hide — to keep secret

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