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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pitch — completely
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. object — to protest
  8. pass — a permit
  9. object — an aim
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. game — a match
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cell — in biology
  16. row — a line
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. ground — crushed
  19. cell — a phone
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. ground — a position
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mine — for digging

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