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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 120 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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fall — the season
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. clip — a video
  8. capital — a city
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. march — the month
  15. fine — high quality
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. capital — money
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. march — music
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fine — all right
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pitch — completely

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