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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: pitch · wind · court · season · lash · kick · row · tear

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. tear — from crying
  3. season — of the year
  4. row — a line
  5. season — in sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. court — for sport
  11. pitch — completely
  12. row — to paddle
  13. court — of law
  14. kick — in football
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. tear — to rip
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. court — of a king
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. tear — from crying

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