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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: bat · object · land · pound · cold · pit · court · leaves

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pit — in a race
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. object — a thing
  7. court — of law
  8. bat — the animal
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. cold — not warm
  13. land — to come down
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. object — to protest
  17. object — an aim
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. land — a country
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. court — for sport
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. cold — an illness

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