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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: perch · court · tube · field · jam · game · pop · row

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. tube — a container
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of law
  8. tube — the underground
  9. court — of a king
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. court — for sport
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. pop — to visit
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. pop — soda
  21. game — wild animals
  22. field — a subject
  23. pop — music
  24. jam — a tight spot

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