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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: game · land · file · stock · bat · mate · pitch · season

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. land — a country
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pitch — completely
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. season — of the year
  10. game — wild animals
  11. file — a line of people
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. stock — shares
  14. game — a match
  15. bat — the animal
  16. land — to come down
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. mate — a friend
  22. mate — to breed
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — a soup base

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