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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. game — a match
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bark — to shout
  5. land — a country
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. land — to come down
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. mug — a cup
  11. prune — to trim
  12. land — ground
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. march — the month
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mug — a face
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. march — the month
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. game — wild animals
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. mug — to rob
  24. march — music

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