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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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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: pitch · fall · stem · rest · court · sharp · last · row

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rest — what's left
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. stem — to come from
  6. row — a line
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. court — of a king
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. court — of law
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pitch — completely
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — final
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. rest — a break
  22. fall — the season
  23. court — for sport
  24. last — finally

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