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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 · racket · mouse · charge · field · season · stem · shower

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. court — for sport
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. field — farmland
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. court — of a king
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. field — a subject
  10. charge — electricity
  11. field — for sport
  12. charge — in control
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. season — of the year
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. season — in sport
  20. shower — to wash
  21. court — of law
  22. charge — a price
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. shower — rain

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