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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.

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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: racket · stem · file · court · can · land · pound · rush

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. rush — hurry
  3. land — to come down
  4. file — a tool
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of law
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. stem — to come from
  13. pound — a weight
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. file — a document
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. can — to be able to
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. court — of a king
  24. racket — for tennis

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