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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. firm — steady
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hand — help
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. land — a country
  10. bulb — for light
  11. firm — a company
  12. pitch — completely
  13. clip — a video
  14. land — to come down
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. pit — in a race
  19. firm — decided
  20. bulb — for light
  21. hand — in cards
  22. land — ground
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. hand — part of the body

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