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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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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: shower · scale · game · pit · wave · pitch · snap · kick

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. pit — a hole
  4. scale — in music
  5. kick — in football
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. scale — size or range
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. game — wild animals
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. shower — rain
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. game — a match
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wave — of the sea

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