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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. land — to come down
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. court — of law
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. can — a tin
  8. content — the amount
  9. can — to be able to
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. can — a tin
  12. field — farmland
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. field — a subject
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. ball — a dance
  19. field — for sport
  20. content — happy
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. ball — a great time
  23. court — of a king
  24. content — videos and posts

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