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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 · game · patient · clip · season · net · stick · wound

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. clip — a video
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. season — in sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. net — in sport
  13. court — of law
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. game — wild animals
  16. clip — for paper
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — after costs
  21. game — a match
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. wound — an injury
  24. season — of the year

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