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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: dip · field · cell · tear · game · court · sharp · stem

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. game — a match
  4. dip — to sink
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. field — for sport
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. field — a subject
  9. game — wild animals
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. court — for sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. court — of a king
  16. stem — to come from
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. field — farmland
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. tear — to rip
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. court — of law
  24. dip — a sauce

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