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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: march · pound · ball · patient · court · kid · net · shower

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. march — music
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. court — of law
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — to tease
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. kid — child
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. shower — rain
  19. march — the month
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. net — in sport
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. shower — to wash
  24. net — for catching

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