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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. bass — the fish
  3. spring — of water
  4. court — of law
  5. spring — the season
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. court — of a king
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitch — completely
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bass — low music
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. branch — a division
  16. kid — child
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bat — the animal
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. court — for sport
  24. branch — of a bank

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