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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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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: court · pitch · chest · ground · stem · kid · drill · foot

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. ground — the earth
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. drill — a practice
  7. stem — to come from
  8. chest — a box
  9. kid — to tease
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ground — crushed
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of a king
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. court — of law
  16. foot — a measure
  17. drill — army training
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. kid — child
  20. drill — the tool
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pitch — completely
  23. ground — a position
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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