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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: bay · court · pitch · coach · rash · ground · saw · shower

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. ground — the earth
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. rash — hasty
  9. court — of a king
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. ground — crushed
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. court — of law
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. shower — rain
  19. rash — a series
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. court — for sport
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. ground — a position
  24. pitch — completely

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