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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. face — to point toward
  4. stock — shares
  5. face — to confront
  6. court — of law
  7. cap — a hat
  8. bass — low music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. cap — a lid
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. tube — the underground
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. tube — a container
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. stock — goods
  19. bass — the fish
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. plane — a tool
  22. face — part of the head
  23. field — farmland
  24. cap — of ice

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