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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: pitch · pop · last · cabinet · game · bear · tear · land

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. pop — to visit
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — ground
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bear — the animal
  10. land — a country
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. last — final
  13. land — to come down
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. pop — music
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pop — soda
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. cabinet — ministers

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