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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: temple · court · capital · field · arm · bulb · cell · wound

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. court — for sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. field — for sport
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. court — of law
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. court — of a king
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cell — a phone
  16. field — farmland
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. capital — money
  21. bulb — for light
  22. capital — a city
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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