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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. net — for catching
  5. wound — an injury
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitch — completely
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. march — the month
  10. last — to go on
  11. march — the month
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. wound — an injury
  14. net — in sport
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. march — music
  17. net — after costs
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. game — a match
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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