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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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. field — farmland
  4. tear — to rip
  5. key — for a lock
  6. field — for sport
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. row — to paddle
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. tear — from crying
  14. prune — to trim
  15. swing — music
  16. row — a line
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — an injury
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. key — in music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. tear — from crying
  24. key — the most important part

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