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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: bank · spring · court · pop · object · field · hide · cold

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. spring — the season
  3. field — for sport
  4. object — an aim
  5. court — of a king
  6. pop — music
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bank — of a river
  10. spring — of water
  11. cold — not warm
  12. object — to protest
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. court — of law
  15. pop — soda
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bank — for money
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bank — for money
  22. object — a thing
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — to visit

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