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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. charge — electricity
  3. field — farmland
  4. key — in music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. court — of a king
  7. key — for a lock
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. track — a song
  11. track — to keep track
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. key — the most important part
  14. charge — a price
  15. mine — for digging
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. field — for sport
  19. track — a path
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. charge — in control
  22. field — a subject
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mine — an explosive

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