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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: chest · mine · hide · pitch · game · court · roll · fork

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. game — a match
  4. court — of law
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. court — for sport
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. court — of a king
  9. pitch — completely
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. roll — a list
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chest — of your body
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. roll — a cake
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. chest — a box
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. chest — of your body

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