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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: clip · coach · game · rock · net · pitch · court · ball

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a great time
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pitch — completely
  5. clip — to cut
  6. court — of a king
  7. rock — music
  8. court — for sport
  9. clip — for paper
  10. net — for catching
  11. game — wild animals
  12. net — after costs
  13. rock — a stone
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. game — a match
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — a video
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. court — of law
  22. net — in sport
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. game — a kind of play

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