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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: court · pit · stand · roll · sharp · fine · field · mine

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pit — in a race
  3. fine — high quality
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. fine — all right
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — a hole
  10. roll — a cake
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. sharp — clever
  13. court — of law
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. mine — for digging
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. roll — a list

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