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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: last · pit · bear · field · arm · kid · fan · court

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. court — of a king
  6. last — final
  7. pit — a hole
  8. kid — child
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. kid — to tease
  12. last — to go on
  13. bear — the animal
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. last — finally
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — of law
  18. field — for sport
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pit — in a race
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. bear — the animal
  24. court — for sport

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