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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: land · row · court · ground · rest · racket · straw · tear

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. ground — crushed
  3. row — to paddle
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. tear — to rip
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rest — what's left
  12. ground — the earth
  13. land — to come down
  14. ground — a position
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. row — a line
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tear — from crying

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