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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — a video
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. sharp — clever
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. charge — electricity
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. pitch — completely
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — for paper
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. charge — in control
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fall — to drop
  22. charge — a price
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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