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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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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: club · field · hand · net · fine · court · arm · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. 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. game — a match
  2. fine — high quality
  3. court — of law
  4. club — for golf
  5. field — a subject
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. field — farmland
  8. net — after costs
  9. hand — help
  10. fine — all right
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. hand — in cards
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. net — for catching
  15. field — for sport
  16. game — wild animals
  17. net — in sport
  18. club — a group
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. court — for sport
  21. club — for dancing
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. 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