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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 · cell · deal · present · pitcher · lean · mine · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cell — a phone
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. field — farmland
  7. cell — in biology
  8. court — of a king
  9. lean — thin
  10. deal — to handle
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. present — the time now
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. present — there
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. present — a gift
  20. mine — for digging
  21. lean — to bend
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. field — a subject
  24. deal — an agreement

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