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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: pitch · field · band · court · tube · fork · date · kick

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. court — for sport
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. tube — a container
  9. fork — in a road
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. tube — the underground
  12. court — of a king
  13. field — for sport
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pitch — completely
  16. kick — in football
  17. band — a ring
  18. field — farmland
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. court — of law
  22. field — a subject
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. date — on the calendar

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