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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 was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. hand — in cards
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. pitch — completely
  5. key — the most important part
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. hand — help
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. field — a subject
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chair — a leader
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — in music
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. clip — a video
  22. field — for sport
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. hide — to keep secret

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