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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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Word bank
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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: pass · wind · pitch · land · cell · tube · scale · field

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. cell — a phone
  6. field — a subject
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pass — a permit
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — a container
  14. land — a country
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. scale — in music
  17. field — farmland
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pitch — completely
  21. field — for sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. pitch — a sports field

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