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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. file — a line of people
  3. stem — to come from
  4. rule — a law
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pitch — completely
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rule — government
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. game — a match
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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