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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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Word bank
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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 · hand · content · kick · racket · mine · field · foot

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. kick — in football
  5. field — a subject
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. mine — for digging
  10. content — happy
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cue — for pool
  16. content — the amount
  17. cue — a signal
  18. hand — help
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cue — a hint
  23. hand — in cards
  24. foot — part of the body

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