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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: court · land · racket · wake · wind · pitch · spell · tube

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. court — for sport
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. court — of law
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. land — ground
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tube — a container
  12. spell — magic
  13. land — to come down
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. land — a country
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. court — of a king
  20. spell — letters
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wake — a trail

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