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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: pitcher · march · mine · key · field · court · rush · kid

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. court — for sport
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. march — the month
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. court — of a king
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. court — of law
  16. kid — child
  17. field — for sport
  18. key — for a lock
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. march — music
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. key — the most important part
  24. key — in music

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