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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. lie — to recline
  10. swing — in golf
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. pitch — completely
  14. clip — a video
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. swing — music
  24. lie — an untruth

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