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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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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: temple · land · kick · court · club · track · field · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — ground
  3. court — of a king
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. field — a subject
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. track — to keep track
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kick — in football
  11. club — for golf
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. court — for sport
  14. track — a path
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. land — a country
  17. track — a song
  18. court — of law
  19. club — for dancing
  20. land — to come down
  21. field — farmland
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. field — for sport
  24. club — a group

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