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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — completely
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — a country
  5. shower — rain
  6. scale — size or range
  7. race — humankind
  8. land — to come down
  9. shower — to wash
  10. scale — in music
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. race — a contest
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. tear — from crying
  21. land — ground
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — after costs

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