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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 · branch · race · bass · drill · field · court · jam

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. branch — a division
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. bass — the fish
  6. race — the arms race
  7. drill — army training
  8. court — of law
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. drill — the tool
  11. race — a contest
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. field — a subject
  14. drill — a practice
  15. pitch — completely
  16. bass — low music
  17. field — for sport
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. court — for sport
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. race — humankind
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. court — of a king

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