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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. last — finally
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. last — final
  6. bark — to shout
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitch — completely
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. saw — the tool
  14. clip — a video
  15. season — in sport
  16. saw — the tool
  17. season — of the year
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. clip — to cut
  22. last — to go on
  23. clip — for paper
  24. season — to add flavour

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