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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. swing — to play on
  3. prune — to trim
  4. fall — to drop
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — in golf
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. land — a country
  13. plane — a tool
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. stock — shares
  16. pitch — completely
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. land — ground
  21. stock — goods
  22. fall — the season
  23. land — to come down
  24. fall — to drop

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