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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: spell · coach · court · ground · lean · pitch · scale · chest

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. chest — a box
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. lean — to bend
  8. scale — in music
  9. lean — thin
  10. spell — letters
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — completely
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. ground — a position
  24. scale — size or range

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