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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. foot — a measure
  3. hand — in cards
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. field — farmland
  6. spell — letters
  7. board — to get on
  8. field — a subject
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. field — for sport
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. court — of law
  13. net — after costs
  14. hand — help
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. court — for sport
  17. spell — a short time
  18. net — in sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. court — of a king
  21. board — a committee
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. spell — magic
  24. hand — part of the body

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