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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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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: ball · bass · wound · pitch · chip · sharp · land · pitcher

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. chip — to eat
  4. bass — low music
  5. ball — a dance
  6. chip — for betting
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. land — to come down
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. sharp — clever
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. land — ground
  24. land — a country

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