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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kid — child
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. snap — to click
  6. capital — a city
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fine — all right
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. kid — to tease
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. perch — the fish
  23. fine — high quality
  24. capital — money

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