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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. hand — help
  4. land — to come down
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. hand — in cards
  7. land — ground
  8. club — for golf
  9. degree — an amount
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — in sport
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. land — a country
  17. pitch — completely
  18. club — a group
  19. club — for dancing
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. net — after costs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. hand — part of the body

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