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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. last — finally
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. stock — shares
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. wind — moving air
  14. clip — a video
  15. last — final
  16. clip — to cut
  17. roll — a list
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. last — to go on
  21. stock — goods
  22. roll — a cake
  23. pitch — completely
  24. stock — a soup base

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