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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. present — a gift
  4. march — the month
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pitch — completely
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. march — the month
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. shower — rain
  22. bat — the animal
  23. march — music
  24. game — a match

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