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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 124 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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. hand — in cards
  5. land — a country
  6. roll — a list
  7. hand — help
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. fork — in a road
  10. roll — a cake
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. drill — army training
  13. land — ground
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. spell — letters
  16. drill — the tool
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. pitch — completely
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spell — a short time
  21. drill — a practice
  22. spell — magic
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. land — to come down

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