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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. mate — a partner
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mine — for digging
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — to breed
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. content — the amount
  15. pitch — completely
  16. land — to come down
  17. hand — help
  18. land — ground
  19. content — happy
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a hat
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. land — a country

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