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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: court · net · tear · pound · hand · stem · pop · club

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. tear — to rip
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pound — a weight
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — for sport
  8. pop — to visit
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. hand — help
  13. club — for dancing
  14. net — after costs
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. court — of law
  18. pop — soda
  19. net — for catching
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for golf
  22. court — of a king
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pop — music

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