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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: arm · trunk · land · court · net · cell · shower · field

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. field — farmland
  5. shower — to wash
  6. field — for sport
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. net — for catching
  11. cell — a phone
  12. court — of law
  13. land — a country
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. net — after costs
  17. court — for sport
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — a subject
  20. land — ground
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — rain
  23. land — to come down
  24. net — in 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