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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 120 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: march · stem · pitch · cell · fall · club · court · pound

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. march — music
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — of law
  7. cell — in biology
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. pound — a weight
  10. court — for sport
  11. fall — to drop
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. fall — to drop
  14. club — a group
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. stem — to come from
  17. march — the month
  18. pitch — completely
  19. fall — the season
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. club — for golf
  23. cell — a phone
  24. march — the month

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