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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.

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: press · field · wave · cell · court · pop

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — soda
  4. cell — in biology
  5. field — farmland
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pop — music
  9. court — of law
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. press — to push
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. court — of a king

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