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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: tear · pitch · bat · leaves · rule · ball · race · fan

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. ball — a dance
  12. pitch — completely
  13. race — humankind
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. ball — a great time
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rule — government
  18. race — a contest
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bat — the animal
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. leaves — lets stay

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