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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 116 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 · club · pitch · mine · face · rest · race · saw

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. court — for sport
  3. club — for dancing
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. mine — for digging
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. race — a contest
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — to confront
  13. race — humankind
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. club — a group
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rest — what's left
  20. race — the arms race
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. face — part of the head
  23. club — for golf
  24. mine — an explosive

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