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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: season · pitcher · field · board · court · pop · drill · clip

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. court — of a king
  3. board — a committee
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. season — in sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. court — for sport
  10. pop — soda
  11. season — of the year
  12. field — farmland
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — for paper
  15. drill — the tool
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. board — to get on
  18. drill — a practice
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — a video
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. court — of law
  23. pop — music
  24. clip — to cut

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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