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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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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: chest · pound · pitch · mate · game · wind · perch · board

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pound — a weight
  5. mate — a partner
  6. game — wild animals
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. board — to get on
  9. chest — a box
  10. mate — a friend
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. perch — the fish
  13. game — a match
  14. wind — moving air
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — of your body
  18. board — a committee
  19. pitch — completely
  20. mate — to breed
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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