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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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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: court · bat · mate · hand · game · kick · safe · pitcher

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hand — help
  7. court — for sport
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mate — to breed
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. court — of a king
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. game — a match
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. hand — in cards
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. court — of law
  23. game — wild animals
  24. kick — a thrill

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