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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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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 · perch · row · pitch · ground · tube · field · club

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. tube — a container
  8. ground — the earth
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. club — for dancing
  12. bat — the animal
  13. ground — crushed
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. perch — the fish
  16. row — to paddle
  17. field — farmland
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ground — a position
  20. club — a group
  21. pitch — completely
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. club — for golf
  24. row — a line

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