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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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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: bat · court · kick · cell · deal · fan · pitcher · wound

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. deal — to handle
  7. cell — in biology
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — in football
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. court — of law
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. court — for sport
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. court — of a king
  24. fan — to cool the air

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