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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. club — for dancing
  3. march — music
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chip — to eat
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pound — a weight
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pitch — completely
  13. club — for golf
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. rest — a break
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — the month
  20. chip — for betting
  21. club — a group
  22. march — the month
  23. shower — rain
  24. rest — what's left

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