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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bass — low music
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. bound — certain
  7. ground — a position
  8. band — a music group
  9. bass — the fish
  10. field — a subject
  11. band — a ring
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bound — obliged
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. court — of a king
  18. plane — a tool
  19. bound — tied together
  20. court — of law
  21. ground — crushed
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. ground — the earth
  24. temple — a place of worship

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