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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: field · court · kid · cabinet · arm · wake · object · prune

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. object — an aim
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. court — of a king
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. prune — to trim
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. object — a thing
  14. kid — to tease
  15. court — for sport
  16. wake — a trail
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. field — for sport
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. court — of law
  23. kid — child
  24. object — to protest

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