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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 120 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. rush — hurry
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. chip — to eat
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bound — obliged
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. chip — for betting

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