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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: wound · game · hand · cabinet · pitch · dip · spell · scale

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. spell — letters
  3. hand — help
  4. scale — size or range
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. scale — in music
  9. spell — a short time
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spell — magic
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. dip — to sink
  15. game — a match
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. game — wild animals
  23. hand — in cards
  24. scale — for weighing

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