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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 120 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: land · pitch · fan · root · row · ball · cap · wind

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. land — a country
  4. cap — of ice
  5. root — of a word
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. land — ground
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wind — moving air
  11. ball — a great time
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cap — a hat
  14. root — of a plant
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. root — the cause
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cap — a lid
  20. ball — a dance
  21. land — to come down
  22. pitch — completely
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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