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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: lash · press · field · court · chest · dip · net · game

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. net — after costs
  4. press — newspapers
  5. game — a match
  6. court — of law
  7. chest — a box
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. net — in sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. dip — to sink
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. press — to push
  16. chest — of your body
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. field — for sport
  19. game — wild animals
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. court — for sport
  23. press — a publisher
  24. net — for catching

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