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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — for betting
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. drill — a practice
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wound — an injury
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. spell — letters
  16. wound — an injury
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. drill — army training
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. capital — money
  21. drill — the tool
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. capital — a city

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