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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pitch — completely
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — a video
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wind — moving air
  23. staff — employees
  24. clip — for paper

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