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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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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 · mark · field · kid · tube · chair · face · band

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a music group
  5. mark — a grade
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. face — to confront
  9. court — of a king
  10. kid — to tease
  11. chair — a leader
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mark — a trace
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. band — a ring
  16. tube — a container
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — child
  19. field — for sport
  20. face — part of the head
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. chair — to sit on

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