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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. tube — the underground
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. march — the month
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — humankind
  8. march — the month
  9. land — ground
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. swing — to play on
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. land — to come down
  14. pound — a weight
  15. foot — a measure
  16. swing — in golf
  17. march — music
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. land — a country
  22. pitch — completely
  23. tube — a container
  24. swing — music

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