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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bound — certain
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — low music
  14. clip — a video
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — completely
  19. kid — child
  20. bound — tied together
  21. tear — from crying
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bound — obliged
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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