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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 116 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: hand · stem · can · court · swing · chip · patient · land

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. hand — help
  3. land — ground
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. swing — to play on
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chip — to eat
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. land — to come down
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. chip — for betting
  17. hand — in cards
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. can — to be able to
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. can — a tin
  22. land — a country
  23. can — a tin
  24. court — of a king

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