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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: bat · cue · spell · pitch · chip · bass · game · field

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bass — low music
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. field — a subject
  8. spell — letters
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. cue — a signal
  11. chip — for betting
  12. game — a match
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bass — the fish
  17. game — wild animals
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. field — farmland
  21. cue — for pool
  22. chip — to eat
  23. cue — a hint
  24. field — for sport

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