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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a match
  3. stem — to come from
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. march — the month
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitch — completely
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. court — of a king
  11. swing — to play on
  12. court — for sport
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. capital — a city
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. capital — money
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. court — of law
  22. march — music
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. march — the month

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