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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: mark · court · patient · file · snap · band · field · kick

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. mark — a grade
  7. kick — in football
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mark — a trace
  10. court — of law
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. band — a music group
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. file — a document
  17. snap — to click
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. file — a tool
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. field — farmland

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