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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: firm · pitcher · field · fork · mouse · tube · court · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. tube — the underground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — a subject
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. net — for catching
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. firm — a company
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. court — for sport
  17. fork — in a road
  18. tube — a container
  19. firm — decided
  20. field — for sport
  21. firm — steady
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. field — farmland
  24. tube — in a tire

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