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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. press — a publisher
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. ball — a great time
  12. roll — a list
  13. press — newspapers
  14. clip — a video
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. mine — for digging
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a cake
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pitch — completely
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. press — to push
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pound — a weight

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