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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 120 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: cue · field · court · wind · race · bore · face · kid

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. court — of law
  3. field — farmland
  4. court — of a king
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bore — to drill
  7. field — for sport
  8. race — humankind
  9. wind — moving air
  10. face — to confront
  11. field — a subject
  12. race — the arms race
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. race — a contest
  19. court — for sport
  20. cue — for pool
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — part of the head
  23. cue — a signal
  24. bore — to tire

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