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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — a subject
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. court — of a king
  5. field — for sport
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. court — of law
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — for sport
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. row — to paddle
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. row — a line
  24. racket — for tennis

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