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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 · band · date · mark · key · field · net · mine

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mark — a grade
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. field — for sport
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. field — farmland
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — in music
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. court — of a king
  14. date — the fruit
  15. net — for catching
  16. mine — for digging
  17. band — a music group
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. net — in sport
  20. band — a ring
  21. field — a subject
  22. mark — a trace
  23. net — after costs
  24. date — on the calendar

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