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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 116 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: lash · fall · scale · hand · pitch · mine · sharp · land

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. land — to come down
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. hand — help
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. scale — size or range
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. land — ground
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. fall — the season
  17. hand — in cards
  18. scale — in music
  19. sharp — clever
  20. land — a country
  21. fall — to drop
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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