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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. field — a subject
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. drill — a practice
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. kid — to tease
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. foot — a measure
  13. drill — army training
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. court — of law
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. drill — the tool
  20. court — of a king
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. date — on the calendar

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