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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: track · court · land · wound · racket · cold · stand · staff

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. land — to come down
  3. stand — to bear
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — a path
  8. wound — an injury
  9. land — a country
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. court — of law
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. court — for sport
  15. track — a song
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — employees
  18. court — of a king
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. land — ground
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. staff — a stick
  24. wound — an injury

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