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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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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: bat · pitch · wind · cell · court · racket · stock · club

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. court — of a king
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. court — for sport
  9. club — a group
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. court — of law
  14. club — for dancing
  15. stock — shares
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. club — for golf
  20. stock — goods
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pitch — a sports field

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