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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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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: wound · stem · rest · court · net · band · bat · track

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. rest — what's left
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. court — of a king
  6. rest — a break
  7. court — for sport
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a ring
  10. stem — to come from
  11. rest — what's left
  12. track — to keep track
  13. net — for catching
  14. court — of law
  15. track — a path
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. net — after costs
  19. bat — the animal
  20. band — a music group
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. track — a song
  24. bat — for baseball

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