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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: coach · kid · bay · key · content · mine · field · game

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. field — farmland
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. kid — to tease
  6. field — a subject
  7. key — in music
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. kid — child
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. key — for a lock
  14. game — a match
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. game — wild animals
  21. field — for sport
  22. key — the most important part
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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