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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. tube — the underground
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. pitch — completely
  8. tube — a container
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. land — to come down
  12. wound — an injury
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. cold — an illness
  16. land — a country
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. land — ground
  19. sharp — clever
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. cold — not warm

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