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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. row — to paddle
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. branch — a division
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. chip — for betting
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. row — a line
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. toast — bread
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. pitch — completely
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. chip — to eat

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