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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: season · field · cold · chip · mine · court · rush · vault

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. vault — a safe
  3. court — for sport
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. chip — for betting
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. season — in sport
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. season — of the year
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. mine — for digging
  14. court — of law
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. field — a subject
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. field — farmland
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chip — to eat
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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