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

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chest — of your body
  4. band — a music group
  5. pitch — completely
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. net — for catching
  9. chest — a box
  10. wound — an injury
  11. date — the fruit
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. band — a ring
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. net — in sport
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. net — after costs
  24. kick — in football

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