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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. toast — bread
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. race — a contest
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. race — humankind
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. game — a match
  19. scale — size or range
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. race — the arms race
  23. scale — in music
  24. toast — the most admired

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