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

Word bank: kid · pitch · court · ball · tear · dip

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. ball — a great time
  5. pitch — completely
  6. kid — to tease
  7. court — for sport
  8. kid — child
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. court — of law
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ball — a dance
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. court — of a king
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying

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