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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pitch — completely
  5. kid — child
  6. net — for catching
  7. cap — a hat
  8. kid — to tease
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. net — in sport
  12. game — a match
  13. cap — a lid
  14. band — a ring
  15. pound — a weight
  16. net — after costs
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. band — a music group
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cap — of ice
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in music

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