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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: field · fall · straw · squash · court · capital · land · date

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. capital — money
  4. field — for sport
  5. fall — to drop
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. court — of a king
  10. fall — to drop
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. squash — the sport
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. squash — to crush
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. land — to come down
  21. fall — the season
  22. land — a country
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. field — farmland

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