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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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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: capital · patient · swing · tear · stand · game · ground · court

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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. swing — in golf
  2. swing — to play on
  3. capital — a city
  4. tear — to rip
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — crushed
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. court — of law
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. stand — to bear
  11. ground — a position
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. court — for sport
  15. game — a match
  16. swing — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. tear — from crying
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. capital — money
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. game — wild animals
  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