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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  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. pitch — completely
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. net — in sport
  5. pop — music
  6. rash — hasty
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for golf
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. field — a subject
  13. club — for dancing
  14. face — part of the head
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pop — soda
  17. net — for catching
  18. pop — to visit
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — to confront
  23. net — after costs
  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