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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 120 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: fan · field · season · stem · game · land · swing · court

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. court — of a king
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. season — of the year
  5. game — wild animals
  6. swing — music
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. game — a match
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. field — farmland
  14. land — to come down
  15. field — a subject
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. season — in sport
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. field — for sport
  23. stem — to come from
  24. land — ground

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