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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · stick · vault · wind · court · field · game · bowl

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — a subject
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. vault — a safe
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. game — a match
  8. row — a line
  9. field — farmland
  10. court — of a king
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. field — for sport
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. court — of law
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. court — for sport
  19. row — to paddle
  20. game — wild animals
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. wind — moving air

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