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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: nail · court · bound · kid · net · racket · swing · land

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. net — for catching
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. net — in sport
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bound — obliged
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. swing — in golf
  16. court — for sport
  17. bound — certain
  18. swing — music
  19. net — after costs
  20. bound — tied together
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. swing — to play on
  23. court — of a king
  24. land — to come down

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