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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: court · ball · dip · pitcher · spell · kid · present · scale

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ball — a great time
  3. present — there
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. ball — a dance
  7. spell — magic
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. court — of law
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — the time now
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — a short time
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. court — of a king
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. dip — to sink

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