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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: court · sharp · bat · leaves · scale · field · cold · bulb

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. field — a subject
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. cold — not warm
  6. scale — size or range
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. cold — an illness
  11. scale — in music
  12. bulb — for light
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. sharp — clever
  17. field — for sport
  18. bulb — for light
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. court — for sport
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. field — farmland
  24. scale — for weighing

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