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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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. shower — rain
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pitch — completely
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cell — a phone
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. game — a match

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