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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: tube · calf · bark · capital · file · court · mine · field

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. field — a subject
  3. bark — to shout
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. field — for sport
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. court — for sport
  12. tube — the underground
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. capital — money
  15. tube — a container
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. court — of law
  18. file — a document
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. capital — a city
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. field — farmland
  24. tube — in a tire

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