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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 · wound · field · spell · bass · tube · trunk · roll

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the fish
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. tube — a container
  9. spell — letters
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. wound — an injury
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. tube — the underground
  16. court — for sport
  17. spell — magic
  18. wound — an injury
  19. roll — a list
  20. bass — low music
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. court — of a king
  23. roll — a cake
  24. spell — a short time

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