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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: club · foot · pitcher · ground · clip · suit · chest · court

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. club — a group
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. court — for sport
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — a video
  14. foot — a measure
  15. suit — in cards
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. clip — for paper
  20. court — of law
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. ground — the earth
  23. suit — to fit
  24. suit — clothes

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