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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: bat · jam · race · court · field · branch · ball · bark

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. race — humankind
  4. field — a subject
  5. ball — a dance
  6. race — a contest
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bark — to shout
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. field — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. ball — a great time
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. court — of law
  23. field — farmland
  24. court — for sport

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