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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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. chest — of your body
  4. game — wild animals
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. rule — government
  9. pop — soda
  10. pitch — completely
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — to crush
  17. rule — a law
  18. squash — the sport
  19. pop — music
  20. chest — a box
  21. game — a match
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. mine — belonging to me

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