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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 116 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 · cell · club · court · race · net · pop · snap

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. pop — music
  3. race — the arms race
  4. pop — soda
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. net — in sport
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pitch — completely
  10. cell — in biology
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. race — a contest
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pop — to visit
  17. court — of a king
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — for catching
  20. court — of law
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. race — humankind
  24. club — a group

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