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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: deal · straw · field · press · march · patient · ground · court

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. court — of law
  3. press — newspapers
  4. court — for sport
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. press — a publisher
  9. field — farmland
  10. ground — the earth
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. press — to push
  13. field — for sport
  14. ground — a position
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. deal — to handle
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. ground — crushed
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. march — the month
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. field — a subject
  24. court — of a king

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