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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. chip — to eat
  5. perch — the fish
  6. cold — an illness
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pitch — completely
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. game — a match
  13. mine — for digging
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — for betting
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. game — wild animals

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