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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: mine · patient · court · fork · net · snap · club · capital

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. court — for sport
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. court — of law
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. net — in sport
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — for golf
  13. net — for catching
  14. mine — for digging
  15. net — after costs
  16. capital — money
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. club — a group
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. snap — to click
  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