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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. stand — to bear
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. clip — a video
  8. pitch — completely
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rash — a series
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. craft — a skill
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — an illness
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cold — not warm
  20. craft — boats
  21. race — humankind
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. clip — to cut

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