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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 120 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 · pitch · wound · pound · squash · field · court · calf

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. squash — the sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — of a king
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. pitch — completely
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. court — of law
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. band — a music group
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. squash — to crush

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