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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. land — ground
  6. chip — for betting
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. court — of law
  10. land — a country
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. court — for sport
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. court — of a king
  16. clip — to cut
  17. land — to come down
  18. row — a line
  19. chip — to eat
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. ruler — a monarch

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