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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. clip — to cut
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. charge — in control
  5. wind — moving air
  6. clip — for paper
  7. net — in sport
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cue — a signal
  10. charge — electricity
  11. cue — a hint
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. net — for catching
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. charge — a price
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. net — after costs
  22. wind — moving air
  23. clip — a video
  24. cue — for pool

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