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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. charge — in control
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. field — a subject
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. game — wild animals
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. charge — electricity
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. foot — a measure
  13. game — a match
  14. bark — to shout
  15. sharp — clever
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. charge — a price
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. mine — for digging

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