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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bass — the fish
  3. row — to paddle
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. court — of law
  6. row — a line
  7. court — of a king
  8. field — for sport
  9. rule — government
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. bass — low music
  14. field — a subject
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. court — for sport
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. rule — a law
  22. mine — for digging
  23. file — a line of people
  24. content — the amount

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