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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: drill · file · bat · deal · pitch · court · coach · roll

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bat — the animal
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. court — for sport
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. file — a tool
  10. roll — a list
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. court — of law
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. drill — a practice
  23. court — of a king
  24. file — a document

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