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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: tube · bowl · last · court · mine · season · pop · pitch

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. last — finally
  9. court — of a king
  10. pop — soda
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. last — final
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. pitch — completely
  16. court — of law
  17. pop — music
  18. mine — for digging
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. last — to go on
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pop — to visit
  23. tube — a container
  24. bowl — to roll

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