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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. staff — employees
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. staff — a stick
  7. date — the fruit
  8. spell — a short time
  9. branch — a division
  10. court — of a king
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. spell — letters
  14. field — a subject
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. staff — employees
  17. roll — a cake
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. spell — magic
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. roll — a list
  22. mine — for digging
  23. court — for sport
  24. branch — of a tree

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