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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. rest — a break
  4. clip — for paper
  5. plane — a tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitch — completely
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fall — the season
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fall — to drop
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. clip — a video
  16. shower — rain
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rest — what's left
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — a match

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