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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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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 · rush · net · squash · roll · race · content · bat

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. race — a contest
  3. content — happy
  4. race — the arms race
  5. roll — a list
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. net — for catching
  10. squash — to crush
  11. pitch — completely
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — after costs
  16. bat — the animal
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. rush — hurry
  19. roll — a cake
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. content — the amount
  22. race — humankind
  23. content — videos and posts
  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