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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · land · pitcher · band · court · mine · season · field

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. field — for sport
  6. land — ground
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a music group
  11. court — of law
  12. mine — for digging
  13. season — of the year
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. field — a subject
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. season — in sport
  21. land — a country
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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