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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: ruler · cell · court · game · chest · bark · pitch · wave

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chest — of your body
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. cell — in biology
  13. court — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pitch — completely
  16. cell — a phone
  17. game — wild animals
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. chest — a box
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cell — in a prison

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