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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.

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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 · spring · net · lean · field · capital · last · rule

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. spring — the season
  3. field — for sport
  4. lean — to bend
  5. rule — a law
  6. field — a subject
  7. court — of a king
  8. capital — money
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. last — final
  12. net — for catching
  13. last — finally
  14. field — farmland
  15. capital — a city
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. spring — a coil
  20. lean — thin
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. net — after costs
  23. last — to go on
  24. spring — of water

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