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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. prune — to trim
  7. game — wild animals
  8. object — an aim
  9. pitch — completely
  10. court — of a king
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. court — for sport
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. object — a thing
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. court — of law
  20. bat — the animal
  21. game — a match
  22. object — to protest
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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