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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. field — for sport
  4. swing — to play on
  5. field — farmland
  6. swing — in golf
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pitch — completely
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. field — a subject
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. clip — to cut
  20. swing — music
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. clip — a video
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. sharp — clever

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