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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 120 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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. chip — to eat
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. wind — moving air
  5. scale — size or range
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wax — to grow
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pitch — completely
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. chip — for betting
  22. mate — a partner
  23. scale — in music
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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