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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: pitch · cell · swing · pound · game · stem

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. swing — in golf
  14. game — a match
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. stem — to come from
  17. game — wild animals
  18. cell — in biology

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