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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. last — final
  7. bass — low music
  8. pound — a weight
  9. last — to go on
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. fall — the season
  19. rash — a series
  20. bass — the fish
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. last — finally

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