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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. pitch — a sports field
  2. track — a path
  3. game — wild animals
  4. land — a country
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. can — a tin
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. game — a match
  10. land — ground
  11. track — a song
  12. capital — a city
  13. wake — a trail
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. can — to be able to
  16. chest — of your body
  17. capital — money
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. can — a tin
  20. track — to keep track
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — to come down
  23. chest — a box
  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