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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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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: club · hand · hide · court · field · file · content · suit

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. field — a subject
  3. club — a group
  4. court — of law
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. field — for sport
  7. content — happy
  8. suit — in cards
  9. file — a tool
  10. hand — in cards
  11. court — for sport
  12. suit — to fit
  13. club — for golf
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. file — a document
  16. court — of a king
  17. field — farmland
  18. hand — help
  19. club — for dancing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. suit — clothes
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. content — videos and posts
  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