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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. ground — a position
  3. bear — the animal
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. rash — a series
  8. hand — help
  9. stock — goods
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. rash — hasty
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bear — the animal
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. game — wild animals

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