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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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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 · pop · mark · mine · lash · net · swing · nail

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. net — in sport
  5. pop — music
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. court — of a king
  11. pop — soda
  12. net — after costs
  13. swing — to play on
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. swing — music
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. pop — to visit
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. net — for catching
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — a trace
  22. swing — in golf
  23. court — of law
  24. mine — belonging to me

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