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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 116 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · spell · court · press · spring · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. press — to push
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. field — a subject
  6. spell — magic
  7. spring — of water
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spell — letters
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — newspapers
  13. spell — a short time
  14. field — for sport
  15. hand — help
  16. spring — the season
  17. field — farmland
  18. court — of law

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