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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. saw — the tool
  3. file — a tool
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. saw — the tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pop — soda
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pop — to visit
  10. rash — hasty
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. file — a document
  15. bat — the animal
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — a series
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pop — music
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. game — a match
  24. pitch — completely

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