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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. chip — for betting
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hand — help
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bark — to shout
  8. pitch — completely
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. chip — to eat
  11. hand — in cards
  12. clip — for paper
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bear — the animal
  15. clip — to cut
  16. shower — rain
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. clip — a video
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kid — child
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bear — to put up with

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