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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — to recline
  4. spell — letters
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. spell — a short time
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. branch — a division
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. sharp — clever
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. shower — to wash
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. pitch — completely
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. shower — rain
  22. spell — magic
  23. game — a match
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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