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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. current — happening now
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. field — for sport
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. bore — to drill
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. prune — to trim
  11. current — electric
  12. field — a subject
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. shower — rain
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bore — to tire
  17. clip — to cut
  18. field — farmland
  19. current — of water
  20. shower — to wash
  21. race — the arms race
  22. pitch — completely
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — a video

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