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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: temple · lean · last · bound · court · pitcher · field · tear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bound — certain
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — farmland
  6. last — final
  7. court — of law
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. bound — obliged
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. lean — thin
  13. last — to go on
  14. lean — to bend
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. field — a subject
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bound — tied together
  19. court — of a king
  20. last — finally
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. field — 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