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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: stem · march · face · chest · court · wound · mark · ground

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. march — music
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. chest — a box
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — part of the head
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. court — for sport
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. court — of law
  18. chest — of your body
  19. march — the month
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — a grade
  24. march — the month

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