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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: court · pit · pitch · bat · wind · club

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. court — of law
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pit — in a race
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — for dancing
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pit — a hole
  14. court — of a king
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — a group
  17. court — for sport
  18. bat — in an idiom

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