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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: hide · scale · field · net · lean · pitcher · court · face

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. scale — size or range
  3. field — farmland
  4. net — after costs
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. lean — to bend
  11. face — to confront
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. field — a subject
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. face — part of the head
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. court — for sport
  18. lean — thin
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — for sport
  21. net — in sport
  22. face — to point toward
  23. scale — in music
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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