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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: perch · ground · wind · sharp · spring · field · ruler · pitch

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. ground — crushed
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — clever
  5. perch — the fish
  6. spring — of water
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. spring — a coil
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. field — for sport
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pitch — completely
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. ground — a position
  22. spring — the season
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. ruler — a monarch

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