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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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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: cell · fork · stand · pitcher · court · spring · chest · kid

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stand — to bear
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. court — of a king
  6. cell — in biology
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — a coil
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cell — a phone
  14. court — of law
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. court — for sport
  20. kid — to tease
  21. fork — in a road
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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