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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 · scale · mouse · bat · bound · pass · field · mine

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. field — a subject
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bound — certain
  6. mine — for digging
  7. court — of law
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bat — the animal
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. field — farmland
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bound — obliged
  19. court — of a king
  20. pass — a permit
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. field — for sport
  23. court — for sport
  24. bound — tied together

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