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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. object — an aim
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. object — to protest
  7. row — to paddle
  8. pop — soda
  9. row — a line
  10. pop — music
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. field — farmland
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — for sport
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. file — a document
  18. vault — a safe
  19. file — a line of people
  20. field — a subject
  21. pitch — completely
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. file — a tool

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