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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: hand · mine · rush · game · ground · present · field · cue

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. present — there
  5. present — the time now
  6. hand — in cards
  7. game — wild animals
  8. field — for sport
  9. rush — hurry
  10. cue — a hint
  11. hand — help
  12. ground — a position
  13. present — a gift
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. field — farmland
  16. game — a match
  17. cue — a signal
  18. ground — crushed
  19. field — a subject
  20. ground — the earth
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. rush — a thrill

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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