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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: race · perch · field · cell · tube · land · pit · pitch

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. land — a country
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pitch — completely
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. field — a subject
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pit — a hole
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. land — to come down
  17. field — for sport
  18. cell — a phone
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. field — farmland
  22. tube — the underground
  23. land — ground
  24. race — humankind

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