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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 116 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. land — ground
  3. swing — music
  4. court — of a king
  5. field — farmland
  6. swing — to play on
  7. key — in music
  8. court — of law
  9. court — for sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. land — a country
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. swing — in golf
  16. key — the most important part
  17. content — happy
  18. clip — a video
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — a series
  21. clip — to cut
  22. key — for a lock
  23. field — a subject
  24. land — to come down

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