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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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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 · fall · net · nail · saw · club · tear · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. net — for catching
  3. tear — from crying
  4. net — after costs
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. court — of law
  7. tear — to rip
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. club — a group
  10. saw — the tool
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. net — in sport
  13. club — for golf
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — to drop
  16. court — of a king
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. saw — the tool
  21. fall — to drop
  22. court — for sport
  23. fall — the season
  24. club — for dancing

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