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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: ball · game · wound · cabinet · court · dip · prune · field

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. court — of a king
  3. game — wild animals
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. court — for sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. ball — a great time
  11. field — for sport
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. court — of law
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. ball — a dance
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. field — farmland
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cabinet — ministers

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