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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pitch — completely
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mark — a trace
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — for golf
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. spring — of water
  19. club — a group
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. pitch — a sports field

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