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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: bulb · degree · field · fall · court · safe · game · roll

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. roll — a cake
  3. game — a match
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — an amount
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. roll — a list
  9. degree — temperature
  10. court — of a king
  11. field — for sport
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. fall — the season
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — from a university
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. fall — to drop
  18. field — farmland
  19. fall — to drop
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bulb — for light
  22. court — of law
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. court — for sport

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