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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — a match
  4. wind — moving air
  5. game — wild animals
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. net — in sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. net — for catching
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pitch — completely
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. net — after costs

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