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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: club · field · cold · rush · rest · game · pitch · ball

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for golf
  3. field — farmland
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rest — a break
  6. ball — a great time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. pitch — completely
  11. game — a match
  12. cold — not warm
  13. field — for sport
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. rest — what's left
  16. field — a subject
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ball — a dance
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. club — for dancing

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