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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — completely
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. clip — a video
  7. bear — the animal
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. snap — to click
  12. fine — all right
  13. clip — to cut
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. cold — an illness
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bear — the animal
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. clip — for paper
  24. fine — a penalty

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