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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · cap · tear · cell · key · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. cap — of ice
  3. game — wild animals
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cell — a phone
  7. game — a match
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cap — a lid
  12. key — for a lock
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. key — in music
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cell — in biology
  18. game — a kind of play

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