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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. field — a subject
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. field — for sport
  6. land — a country
  7. current — electric
  8. squash — the sport
  9. club — for dancing
  10. cap — a lid
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. cap — of ice
  13. degree — from a university
  14. club — a group
  15. cap — a hat
  16. court — for sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. current — happening now
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — for golf
  21. current — of water
  22. degree — an amount
  23. court — of a king
  24. field — farmland

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