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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: fall · temple · field · rule · mouse · capital · court · hand

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. hand — help
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — government
  9. capital — money
  10. field — farmland
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. field — a subject
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. capital — a city
  20. fall — to drop
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. court — of a king
  24. fall — the season

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