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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: can · mine · court · file · lie · march · field · cold

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. file — a tool
  4. can — a tin
  5. march — music
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. can — to be able to
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lie — to recline
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. court — of a king
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. can — a tin
  21. court — for sport
  22. file — a document
  23. field — a subject
  24. lie — an untruth

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