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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: cold · rush · court · firm · rock · pitch · hand · land

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. land — ground
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. court — for sport
  6. land — a country
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rock — music
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. court — of a king
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. cold — an illness
  15. firm — decided
  16. rock — a stone
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. land — to come down
  19. rush — hurry
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. hand — help
  23. pitch — completely
  24. firm — steady

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