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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 120 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: patient · capital · court · chest · pitch · cue · bark · land

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. land — ground
  4. cue — a hint
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cue — a signal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. chest — of your body
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. capital — money
  18. chest — a box
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — for sport
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cue — for pool

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