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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 120 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: court · bank · chair · cue · field · cell · rush · pound

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. court — of law
  3. chair — a leader
  4. court — for sport
  5. bank — for money
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bank — for money
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cell — a phone
  13. field — for sport
  14. bank — of a river
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cue — for pool
  17. field — farmland
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. court — of a king
  21. cue — a signal
  22. rush — hurry
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cue — a hint

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