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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitch · last · stock · spell · court · racket · craft · cold

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. stock — shares
  3. craft — a skill
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stock — goods
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. last — final
  9. cold — not warm
  10. court — of a king
  11. last — to go on
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. court — of law
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spell — magic
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. craft — boats
  20. last — finally
  21. court — for sport
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — letters

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