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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. roll — a cake
  3. land — to come down
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bulb — for light
  6. pitch — completely
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. clip — to cut
  9. land — a country
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rush — hurry
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — for light
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. kick — in football
  20. roll — a list
  21. clip — a video
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. kick — a thrill

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