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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — completely
  3. clip — for paper
  4. row — to paddle
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. clip — to cut
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. game — a match
  9. present — a gift
  10. chip — for betting
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — to eat
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. clip — a video
  19. row — a line
  20. game — wild animals
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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