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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 120 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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. suit — in cards
  3. pitch — completely
  4. file — a document
  5. suit — clothes
  6. hand — in cards
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. file — a line of people
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. clip — to cut
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. file — a tool
  14. content — the amount
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. clip — a video
  18. kick — in football
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. hand — help
  24. clip — for paper

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