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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: wave · mark · roll · file · wind · club · race · pitch

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. roll — a cake
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. mark — a grade
  7. roll — a list
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a document
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. mark — a trace
  15. club — for golf
  16. pitch — completely
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. file — a tool
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. race — humankind
  24. file — a line of people

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