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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: coach · clip · court · calf · bore · pitch · last · nail

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. clip — for paper
  3. court — for sport
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. last — final
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. pitch — completely
  10. last — to go on
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. court — of law
  15. clip — a video
  16. bore — to tire
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. last — finally
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. court — of a king

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