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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: drill · season · mate · pitcher · court · fall · land · fan

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. mate — a friend
  3. court — of law
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. land — ground
  8. mate — a partner
  9. drill — army training
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. drill — a practice
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. court — for sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. court — of a king
  20. season — in sport
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. land — a country
  23. mate — to breed
  24. season — to add flavour

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