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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spring · net · court · wave · land · field · season · roll

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. net — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. court — for sport
  5. roll — a list
  6. season — in sport
  7. roll — a cake
  8. field — a subject
  9. spring — of water
  10. field — for sport
  11. spring — the season
  12. net — for catching
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. court — of a king
  15. land — a country
  16. land — ground
  17. season — of the year
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. field — farmland
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. court — of law
  22. net — after costs
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. spring — a coil

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