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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: march · bat · pitch · chair · rush · root · field · court

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. root — of a word
  4. field — farmland
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rush — hurry
  7. root — of a plant
  8. court — for sport
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — the animal
  11. field — a subject
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. court — of law
  15. march — the month
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. court — of a king
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. root — the cause

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