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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: shower · suit · game · cap · bat · court · roll · pitch

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bat — the animal
  7. suit — in cards
  8. pitch — completely
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. shower — to wash
  14. suit — to fit
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. cap — a hat
  19. game — a match
  20. roll — a cake
  21. shower — rain
  22. roll — a list
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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