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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 120 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — to breed
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. hand — help
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — for sport
  10. mate — a partner
  11. rock — a stone
  12. last — finally
  13. net — for catching
  14. clip — for paper
  15. last — to go on
  16. clip — a video
  17. rock — music
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pitch — completely
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. last — final

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