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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 116 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: court · field · firm · saw · spring · pop · clip · fan

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. pop — music
  4. court — for sport
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pop — to visit
  7. spring — the season
  8. clip — a video
  9. spring — of water
  10. field — a subject
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pop — soda
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. clip — to cut
  17. firm — steady
  18. saw — the tool
  19. court — of law
  20. firm — decided
  21. clip — for paper
  22. firm — a company
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. field — farmland

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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