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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · bark · chair · squash · game · court

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. squash — the sport
  3. court — of law
  4. squash — to crush
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — of a king
  9. chair — a leader
  10. game — wild animals
  11. field — for sport
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. court — for sport
  15. game — a match
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — to shout
  18. chair — a professorship

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