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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.

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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: tube · court · cell · swing · field · bulb · roll · deal

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. roll — a list
  3. swing — in golf
  4. tube — the underground
  5. court — of a king
  6. swing — to play on
  7. field — a subject
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. cell — in biology
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bulb — for light
  14. deal — to handle
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. cell — a phone
  17. field — for sport
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. tube — a container
  20. court — of law
  21. swing — music
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bulb — for light
  24. field — farmland

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