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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 116 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. ball — a great time
  3. squash — to crush
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pass — a permit
  9. face — to point toward
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — a match
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. spring — the season
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. spring — a coil
  20. ball — a dance
  21. face — to confront
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. spring — of water
  24. pitch — completely

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