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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: bear · content · fall · ground · field · court · face · scale

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. ground — crushed
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. field — farmland
  6. scale — size or range
  7. content — the amount
  8. court — of a king
  9. field — a subject
  10. ground — the earth
  11. field — for sport
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — a position
  14. fall — the season
  15. content — happy
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bear — the animal
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bear — the animal
  20. face — to confront
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. court — of law
  23. scale — in music
  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