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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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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: drill · perch · court · cell · fork · present · field · tube

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. tube — a container
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. court — of law
  6. court — of a king
  7. field — for sport
  8. present — a gift
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. field — a subject
  11. cell — a phone
  12. present — the time now
  13. perch — the fish
  14. drill — army training
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. tube — the underground
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. court — for sport
  19. drill — a practice
  20. cell — in biology
  21. present — there
  22. fork — in a road
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. drill — the tool

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