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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. wound — an injury
  3. court — of law
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. court — of a king
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — of water
  13. roll — a list
  14. pitch — completely
  15. squash — the sport
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. wound — an injury
  18. tube — the underground
  19. squash — to crush
  20. date — the fruit
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. spring — a coil
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. roll — a cake

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