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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. court — of law
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — tied together
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. bound — certain
  8. pitch — completely
  9. track — a song
  10. track — a path
  11. track — to keep track
  12. chip — for betting
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. chip — to eat
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bat — the animal
  19. season — of the year
  20. court — for sport
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. court — of a king
  23. season — in sport
  24. bat — for baseball

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