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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.

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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. court — of law
  3. race — the arms race
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. field — a subject
  10. race — a contest
  11. court — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pitch — completely
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. game — wild animals
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rest — what's left
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. field — for sport
  22. race — humankind
  23. rest — a break
  24. court — of a king

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