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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: game · content · mug · perch · pitch · row · fall · cell

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pitch — completely
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. game — a match
  12. content — the amount
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. game — wild animals
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. content — happy
  17. mug — a face
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. row — a line
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. mug — a cup
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. row — to paddle
  24. perch — the fish

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