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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. chest — of your body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. hand — in cards
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bore — to drill
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. chest — a box
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bore — to tire
  18. hand — help
  19. row — a line
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. chest — of your body
  22. file — a line of people
  23. saw — the tool
  24. plane — a tool

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