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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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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: present · chest · pit · stock · field · court · pitcher · band

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. court — of law
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. present — the time now
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — for sport
  9. court — for sport
  10. band — a music group
  11. present — there
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. present — a gift
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stock — shares
  18. field — a subject
  19. pit — a hole
  20. chest — of your body
  21. band — a ring
  22. court — of a king
  23. field — farmland
  24. pit — in a race

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