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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. march — the month
  10. wake — a trail
  11. ground — the earth
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. march — music
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. sharp — clever
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. march — the month
  24. pitch — completely

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