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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: pitcher · swing · branch · cell · court · track · pitch · chest

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. branch — a division
  4. court — for sport
  5. track — a song
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. track — a path
  9. court — of law
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. court — of a king
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. chest — a box
  17. track — to keep track
  18. swing — to play on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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