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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 · straw · wave · field · firm · tear

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. court — of a king
  4. tear — to rip
  5. firm — a company
  6. court — for sport
  7. firm — steady
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. court — of law
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. tear — from crying
  12. field — farmland
  13. firm — decided
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. tear — from crying
  18. field — a subject

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