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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: hand · wake · court · fork · bat · hide · ruler · pitch

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. court — for sport
  6. wake — a trail
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. fork — in a road
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitch — completely
  11. hand — help
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. court — of law
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. court — of a king
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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