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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. last — finally
  3. row — to paddle
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. row — a line
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wound — an injury
  11. game — a match
  12. tube — the underground
  13. last — to go on
  14. game — wild animals
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. hand — help
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. last — final
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. tube — a container
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. perch — the fish

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