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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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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: pound · foot · court · field · row · last · bulb · cell

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. last — final
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. field — farmland
  5. court — of a king
  6. field — a subject
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. last — to go on
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cell — in biology
  11. court — for sport
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. court — of law
  14. bulb — for light
  15. row — to paddle
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cell — a phone
  20. field — for sport
  21. row — a line
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. last — finally
  24. foot — a measure

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