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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cue — for pool
  3. net — after costs
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mug — a face
  6. clip — for paper
  7. tear — to rip
  8. mug — to rob
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. mug — a cup
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spring — a coil
  17. fall — the season
  18. cue — a hint
  19. cue — a signal
  20. net — in sport
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. net — for catching
  24. pitch — a sports field

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