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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. land — to come down
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. fall — the season
  5. root — of a word
  6. root — of a plant
  7. pitch — completely
  8. root — the cause
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. land — a country
  12. net — in sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. saw — the tool
  16. snap — to click
  17. land — ground
  18. saw — the tool
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. net — for catching
  22. race — humankind
  23. net — after costs
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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