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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 120 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: bound · rock · scale · court · temple · field · prune · face

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — obliged
  4. rock — a stone
  5. rock — music
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — of law
  8. prune — to trim
  9. field — a subject
  10. bound — tied together
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. court — of a king
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. court — for sport
  21. scale — size or range
  22. field — for sport
  23. face — part of the head
  24. prune — to trim

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