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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. last — to go on
  3. rush — hurry
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. last — final
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cue — a hint
  12. spring — the season
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. game — a match
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. last — finally
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. spring — of water
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. spring — a coil
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cue — a signal

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