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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. pit — a hole
  2. game — a match
  3. pit — in a race
  4. rash — a series
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rash — hasty
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. content — the amount
  13. staff — employees
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. content — happy
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. staff — employees
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. staff — a stick
  23. content — videos and posts
  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