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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. chip — for betting
  5. pitch — completely
  6. land — to come down
  7. capital — a city
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — the arms race
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. land — a country
  15. hand — help
  16. land — ground
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. chip — to eat
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. straw — a straw man

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