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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: field · lean · clip · court · bark · temple · roll · chest

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. roll — a list
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. court — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. lean — thin
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — a subject
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. field — for sport
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. clip — to cut
  20. roll — a cake
  21. lean — to bend
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chest — of your body
  24. court — of law

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