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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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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: bound · wound · mate · pitch · bat · rock · leaves · land

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — a stone
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pitch — completely
  6. rock — music
  7. mate — a partner
  8. mate — a friend
  9. land — a country
  10. bound — certain
  11. mate — to breed
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — ground
  23. bound — obliged
  24. land — to come down

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