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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: court · jam · chest · bear · bowl · cell · pitch · clip

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. court — of law
  5. chest — a box
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. court — for sport
  17. chest — of your body
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. court — of a king
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. jam — in traffic

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