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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wound — an injury
  6. march — the month
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. pitch — completely
  9. can — a tin
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. game — a match
  12. wound — an injury
  13. game — wild animals
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. band — a ring
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. plane — a tool
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. march — music
  23. band — a music group
  24. mine — for digging

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