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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: court · drill · last · pound · arm · spell · field · foot

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. drill — a practice
  3. last — final
  4. spell — letters
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. spell — magic
  12. field — a subject
  13. drill — army training
  14. last — to go on
  15. court — of law
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. spell — a short time
  19. foot — a measure
  20. last — finally
  21. drill — the tool
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. pound — a weight
  24. foot — part of the body

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