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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: pit · court · field · bat · arm · mine · kick · deal

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pit — a hole
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. court — of law
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. court — for sport
  12. pit — in a race
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. court — of a king
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. field — for sport
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bat — the animal
  20. kick — in football
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. deal — to handle
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. mine — belonging to me

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