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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. present — the time now
  3. game — a match
  4. hand — help
  5. game — wild animals
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. present — there
  9. pitch — completely
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — a weight
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. hand — in cards
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. present — a gift

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