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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: pitch · wake · fork · row · last · race · face · court

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. race — a contest
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. race — humankind
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. court — for sport
  8. row — to paddle
  9. race — the arms race
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. court — of a king
  13. fork — in a road
  14. face — to confront
  15. court — of law
  16. row — a line
  17. face — to point toward
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. face — part of the head
  20. last — finally
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. pitch — completely
  24. last — to go on

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