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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: rule · season · bat · pitch · field · hand · mark · present

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pitch — completely
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — a law
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. season — of the year
  9. mark — a grade
  10. present — a gift
  11. field — a subject
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. hand — in cards
  14. present — there
  15. field — for sport
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mark — a trace
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — help
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. present — the time now
  24. season — in sport

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