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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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. band — a ring
  3. cell — a phone
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. spring — the season
  9. last — final
  10. band — a music group
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. game — a match
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spring — of water
  19. last — finally
  20. pound — a weight
  21. game — wild animals
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. fork — in a road
  24. last — to go on

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