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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a match
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. season — in sport
  16. land — ground
  17. season — of the year
  18. club — for golf
  19. ground — a position
  20. land — to come down
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. club — a group
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — a country

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