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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: perch · pitch · straw · cell · pound · pop · mine · court

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  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. pound — a weight
  2. court — of law
  3. court — of a king
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. cell — a phone
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. mine — for digging
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. court — for sport
  16. pop — music
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pop — to visit
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. perch — the fish
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. pop — soda
  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