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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. hand — help
  4. rush — hurry
  5. field — for sport
  6. court — for sport
  7. land — ground
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. court — of law
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. hand — in cards
  12. content — the amount
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. field — farmland
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. land — to come down
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. deal — to handle
  21. court — of a king
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. content — happy
  24. land — a country

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