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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. field — farmland
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. field — a subject
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rush — hurry
  8. plane — a tool
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. present — the time now
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. present — there
  15. present — a gift
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. plane — an aircraft

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