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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: bat · mine · present · track · pitch · scale · chip · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. present — there
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wind — moving air
  9. scale — size or range
  10. chip — for betting
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — completely
  13. mine — for digging
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. chip — to eat
  19. bat — the animal
  20. track — a song
  21. track — a path
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. scale — in music

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