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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: field · pitcher · hand · ball · game · content · cabinet · cue

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. ball — a dance
  8. content — the amount
  9. cue — a signal
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. content — happy
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cue — for pool
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. field — a subject
  24. hand — 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