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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — to tease
  3. scale — in music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pitch — completely
  7. scale — size or range
  8. net — after costs
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. wind — moving air
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. kid — child
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. deal — to handle
  24. deal — a big deal

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