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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. clip — a video
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. pitch — completely
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bark — to shout

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