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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. land — to come down
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. scale — in music
  11. pit — a hole
  12. face — to point toward
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pitch — completely
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. land — a country
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — part of the head
  23. land — ground
  24. scale — size or range

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