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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. last — final
  4. march — music
  5. spell — a short time
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. file — a tool
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. file — a document
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a line of people
  12. date — the fruit
  13. spell — letters
  14. lean — to bend
  15. march — the month
  16. last — finally
  17. net — after costs
  18. lean — thin
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. net — for catching
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. last — to go on
  23. spell — magic
  24. net — in sport

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