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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. race — humankind
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. march — the month
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. cap — a hat
  9. race — a contest
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. march — the month
  16. row — to paddle
  17. race — the arms race
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. march — music
  22. pitch — completely
  23. cap — of ice
  24. row — a line

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