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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: foot · ball · mark · cold · pitch · perch · date · game

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. game — a match
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ball — a dance
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cold — an illness
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. game — wild animals
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mark — a grade
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. foot — a measure
  22. ball — a great time
  23. date — the fruit
  24. pitch — completely

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