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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cell — a phone
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cell — in biology
  9. file — a line of people
  10. capital — money
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. game — a match
  14. wind — moving air
  15. file — a document
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. file — a tool
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. capital — a city
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. pitch — completely

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