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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. court — of a king
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bass — the fish
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. season — of the year
  8. chest — a box
  9. court — of law
  10. ground — the earth
  11. field — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. deal — to handle
  14. court — for sport
  15. season — in sport
  16. ground — a position
  17. field — a subject
  18. bass — low music
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. ground — crushed
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. deal — a big deal

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