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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. hand — help
  6. clip — a video
  7. charge — a price
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. hand — in cards
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. file — a tool
  15. charge — electricity
  16. kick — in football
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. dip — to sink
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. clip — for paper
  22. charge — in control
  23. file — a document
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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