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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 · clip · wave · wound · pitcher · game · stand · ground

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. court — for sport
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. clip — a video
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. game — a match
  13. ground — the earth
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. ground — crushed
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. ground — a position
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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