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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 116 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. hand — in cards
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. content — happy
  11. land — a country
  12. cue — a signal
  13. court — of law
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. prune — to trim
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. content — the amount
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. cue — for pool

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