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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: court · march · snap · date · swing · field · net · bear

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. snap — to click
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. court — of law
  5. net — for catching
  6. field — farmland
  7. net — in sport
  8. swing — to play on
  9. court — for sport
  10. swing — in golf
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. field — a subject
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bear — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. swing — music
  17. field — for sport
  18. march — the month
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. net — after costs
  22. date — the fruit
  23. march — music
  24. bear — the animal

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