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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. land — ground
  4. net — for catching
  5. wind — moving air
  6. net — in sport
  7. land — a country
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pop — to visit
  11. land — to come down
  12. kid — child
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ball — a great time
  16. pop — soda
  17. net — after costs
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. pop — music
  21. pitch — completely
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. ball — a round shape

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