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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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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: court · present · pitch · shower · cell · rock · suit · kid

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. pitch — completely
  3. rock — music
  4. present — there
  5. court — of a king
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rock — a stone
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — a phone
  12. court — of law
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. court — for sport
  15. suit — clothes
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. suit — to fit
  20. shower — rain
  21. present — the time now
  22. suit — in cards
  23. present — a gift
  24. cell — in biology

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