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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: wound · net · bound · cue · pitch · march · game · ground

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. bound — certain
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bound — tied together
  8. net — in sport
  9. bound — obliged
  10. cue — for pool
  11. net — after costs
  12. ground — crushed
  13. net — for catching
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. march — the month
  16. ground — a position
  17. march — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cue — a hint
  20. march — the month
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pitch — completely
  24. ground — the earth

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