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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: court · lean · wound · can · deal · board · net · spring

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. lean — to bend
  3. court — of a king
  4. net — for catching
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. lean — thin
  9. wound — an injury
  10. board — a committee
  11. spring — the season
  12. deal — to handle
  13. board — to get on
  14. court — for sport
  15. spring — of water
  16. net — in sport
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. net — after costs
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. spring — a coil
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. court — of law
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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