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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · jam · pitch · root · spring · saw · court · net

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. net — for catching
  3. root — the cause
  4. spring — a coil
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. root — of a word
  7. net — after costs
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. root — of a plant
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — not warm
  14. saw — the tool
  15. net — in sport
  16. court — of law
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. spring — the season
  19. court — of a king
  20. saw — the tool
  21. court — for sport
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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