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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: row · ground · pitch · stock · bat · mate · swing · rest

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. mate — a partner
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mate — a friend
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. ground — a position
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. row — a line
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. mate — to breed
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. swing — in golf
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. ground — crushed
  23. swing — music
  24. row — a quarrel

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