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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: field · ball · last · band · prune · face · arm · court

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. prune — to trim
  5. field — for sport
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. last — final
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. last — to go on
  14. field — farmland
  15. last — finally
  16. court — for sport
  17. band — a music group
  18. face — part of the head
  19. field — a subject
  20. court — of law
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. prune — to trim
  23. ball — a dance
  24. court — of a king

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