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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. squash — to crush
  3. drill — army training
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. branch — a division
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. drill — a practice
  11. spring — the season
  12. cold — not warm
  13. squash — the sport
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kick — in football
  19. spring — of water
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. spring — a coil

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