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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pop — music
  6. shower — rain
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. file — a line of people
  10. board — to get on
  11. bat — the animal
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — a committee
  14. pop — to visit
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. file — a document
  18. game — a match
  19. pop — soda
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. file — a tool
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. hide — to keep secret

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