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

Word bank: court · field · wake · chest · ruler · cell

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. court — of law
  4. field — for sport
  5. court — for sport
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chest — of your body
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. field — a subject
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. cell — a phone
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. field — farmland
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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