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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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Word bank
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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: hide · fork · swing · race · court · pitch

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. swing — music
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. court — of a king
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. swing — in golf
  11. court — of law
  12. fork — in a road
  13. court — for sport
  14. swing — to play on
  15. pitch — completely
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fork — to eat with

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