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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: fork · last · court · mine · face · bass · field · rash

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. court — of law
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. face — part of the head
  5. field — for sport
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bass — low music
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. last — finally
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bass — the fish
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. face — to point toward
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — final
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty
  19. court — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. court — of a king
  22. face — to confront
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bass — the instrument

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