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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: net · fork · court · land · saw · squash · racket · field

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. court — of law
  4. field — for sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — in sport
  7. saw — the tool
  8. squash — to crush
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. net — for catching
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. court — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — of a king
  18. squash — the sport
  19. land — a country
  20. saw — the tool
  21. field — a subject
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. racket — a loud noise

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