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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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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: lash · hide · court · field · scale · ground · shower · prune

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. court — of law
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. scale — in music
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. scale — size or range
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. ground — the earth
  15. prune — to trim
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. ground — a position
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. field — for sport
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. shower — to wash
  24. scale — for weighing

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