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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. roll — a cake
  5. land — to come down
  6. snap — to click
  7. land — a country
  8. wind — moving air
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. field — for sport
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. field — a subject
  14. pop — to visit
  15. court — of a king
  16. field — farmland
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — ground
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. court — for sport
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — music
  23. court — of law
  24. roll — a list

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