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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.

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: court · hand · bass · capital · field · chest · present · bowl

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. court — of law
  4. capital — a city
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bass — the fish
  9. court — of a king
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — money
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bass — low music
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. present — there
  21. field — for sport
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — a gift
  24. court — for sport

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