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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rest — a break
  5. current — electric
  6. bound — tied together
  7. pitch — completely
  8. current — happening now
  9. rest — what's left
  10. clip — a video
  11. current — of water
  12. bound — obliged
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bound — certain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child

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