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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: mark · net · staff · prune · court · pitcher · bound · field

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bound — certain
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. staff — a stick
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. bound — obliged
  9. court — of a king
  10. net — for catching
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. staff — employees
  13. mark — a trace
  14. staff — employees
  15. net — after costs
  16. field — for sport
  17. prune — to trim
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. net — in sport
  23. mark — a grade
  24. bound — tied together

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