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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: field · land · swing · plane · board · court · shower · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. land — a country
  3. board — a committee
  4. court — of law
  5. swing — music
  6. field — for sport
  7. shower — to wash
  8. field — a subject
  9. swing — in golf
  10. court — for sport
  11. shower — rain
  12. field — farmland
  13. land — to come down
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. court — of a king
  18. board — to get on
  19. land — ground
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. plane — a tool
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. swing — to play on

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