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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: roll · tube · content · trunk · capital · court · swing · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. swing — in golf
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. roll — a cake
  5. swing — to play on
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. tube — a container
  8. court — for sport
  9. swing — music
  10. roll — a list
  11. capital — money
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. content — happy
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. court — of a king
  19. capital — a city
  20. tube — the underground
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. court — of law
  24. content — the amount

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