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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: hand · rash · squash · pitch · court · field · cap · root

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cap — a hat
  3. squash — to crush
  4. court — of a king
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. hand — help
  9. root — of a word
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cap — a lid
  12. field — a subject
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. field — farmland
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. court — for sport
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. field — for sport
  19. squash — the sport
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cap — of ice
  22. root — the cause
  23. court — of law
  24. hand — part of the body

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