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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — a stone
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. rock — music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bat — the animal
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pound — a weight
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bat — for baseball

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