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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: pit · patient · lash · bat · pitch · court · spring · kid

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. kid — child
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. court — of law
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spring — the season
  14. court — of a king
  15. pit — a hole
  16. spring — of water
  17. court — for sport
  18. kid — to tease
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. pit — in a race
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bat — for baseball

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