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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: band · pitcher · court · pitch · land · wound · coach · lash

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. land — a country
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — completely
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — ground
  10. band — a ring
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. court — for sport
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. land — to come down
  23. court — of a king
  24. band — a rubber band

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