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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · calf · drill · chest · bat · pitcher · club · bore

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bore — to tire
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. court — for sport
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. club — for dancing
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chest — of your body
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. club — a group
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. court — of a king
  21. chest — a box
  22. drill — army training
  23. court — of law
  24. drill — a practice

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