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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bank — for money
  3. court — of a king
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — farmland
  6. bank — for money
  7. field — for sport
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. press — to push
  10. press — a publisher
  11. court — of law
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. scale — in music
  17. bank — of a river
  18. field — a subject
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. scale — size or range
  21. press — newspapers
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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