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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitch · race · pass · branch · date · field · mine · net

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. field — farmland
  4. date — the fruit
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. mine — for digging
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. race — humankind
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pitch — completely
  11. race — a contest
  12. field — for sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. field — a subject
  16. net — after costs
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. race — the arms race
  21. net — in sport
  22. pass — a permit
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. branch — a division

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