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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: arm · pitch · temple · rule · court · staff · cold · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. staff — a stick
  5. ground — the earth
  6. staff — employees
  7. court — of law
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. rule — government
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. rule — a law
  12. pitch — completely
  13. ground — a position
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. cold — not warm
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. staff — employees
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. cold — an illness
  24. temple — side of the head

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