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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. mine — for digging
  3. root — of a word
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. root — of a plant
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. root — the cause
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. deal — to handle
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — an injury

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