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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. charge — electricity
  3. fall — the season
  4. net — in sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. tube — a container
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitch — completely
  9. net — for catching
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. fall — to drop
  14. charge — in control
  15. fall — to drop
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — the underground
  18. net — after costs
  19. degree — temperature
  20. charge — a price
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — from a university
  24. squash — the sport

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