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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: bore · lean · drill · swing · cold · date · court · pitch

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. swing — to play on
  5. drill — army training
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. date — the fruit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. court — of a king
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bore — to drill
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. pitch — completely
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bore — to tire
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. court — for sport

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