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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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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: land · root · pitch · kid · chest · branch · date · court

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. court — of a king
  6. pitch — completely
  7. land — to come down
  8. kid — to tease
  9. root — of a plant
  10. court — for sport
  11. land — ground
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. branch — a division
  14. root — the cause
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. court — of law
  17. kid — child
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. land — a country
  22. root — of a word
  23. chest — of your body
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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