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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. file — a tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. pop — to visit
  6. mate — a friend
  7. cap — a hat
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — finally
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. cap — a lid
  12. file — a document
  13. mate — a partner
  14. pop — soda
  15. file — a line of people
  16. last — final
  17. mate — to breed
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pop — music
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. pitch — completely
  24. row — to paddle

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