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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 preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. shower — rain
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pit — in a race
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pitch — completely
  12. root — the cause
  13. hand — help
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wound — an injury
  17. root — of a plant
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. shower — to wash
  20. root — of a word
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. wake — a trail
  24. hand — part of the body

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