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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. stand — to bear
  3. bat — the animal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — of water
  7. swing — music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. clip — a video
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitch — completely
  16. spring — the season
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — a coil
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. swing — in golf
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. bat — for baseball

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