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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.

Make a worksheet

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: field · bay · date · wind · stand · court · pitcher · hand

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. stand — to bear
  3. court — of law
  4. field — a subject
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. court — of a king
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. field — farmland
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. hand — in cards
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. field — for sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. date — the fruit
  24. stand — for spectators

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