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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. pop — soda
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. field — farmland
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pop — to visit
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. rush — hurry
  16. perch — the fish
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. field — a subject
  19. bat — the animal
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. field — for sport
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pop — 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