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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 116 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. fall — the season
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bank — for money
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pitch — completely
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. present — there
  15. hand — help
  16. cold — an illness
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bank — of a river
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bank — for money
  24. present — a gift

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