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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. fall — to drop
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. sharp — clever
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — to tease
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. prune — to trim
  13. court — of law
  14. game — a match
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kid — child
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. pitch — completely
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fall — the season
  24. prune — to trim

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