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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: club · saw · pitch · land · straw · patient · bat · court

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — a country
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. club — for dancing
  9. pitch — completely
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. saw — the tool
  13. court — of law
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. club — for golf
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. saw — the tool
  19. land — ground
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. patient — a sick person

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