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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 · race · game · wound · saw · fine · plane · rush

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. fine — high quality
  3. game — a match
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. fine — all right
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. race — the arms race
  12. pitch — completely
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rush — hurry
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. race — a contest
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — wild animals
  22. plane — a tool
  23. race — humankind
  24. pitch — a sports field

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