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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cell — a phone
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. field — farmland
  6. cell — in biology
  7. field — for sport
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. net — for catching
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — to confront
  13. face — part of the head
  14. stem — to come from
  15. court — for sport
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. scale — in music
  20. field — a subject
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — after costs

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