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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: temple · track · court · net · pound · kid · trunk · foot

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. net — after costs
  3. track — a song
  4. court — of a king
  5. kid — child
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. foot — a measure
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. net — in sport
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. kid — to tease
  14. pound — a weight
  15. court — for sport
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. net — for catching
  21. track — to keep track
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. court — of law
  24. trunk — of a tree

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