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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. ground — crushed
  7. pitch — completely
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. ground — the earth
  11. swing — music
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. ground — a position
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. spell — magic
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spell — letters
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. swing — in golf

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