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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: chest · wound · court · foot · face · trunk · chair · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. court — of law
  5. court — of a king
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — farmland
  11. foot — a measure
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — part of the head
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. chest — a box
  16. chair — a leader
  17. face — to confront
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. face — to point toward
  22. court — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. trunk — of a tree

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