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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: court · race · pound · patient · cold · swing

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. court — for sport
  3. swing — music
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. race — a contest
  6. pound — a weight
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — an illness
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — in golf
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. court — of a king
  16. race — humankind
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. race — the arms race

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