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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. lean — to bend
  3. shower — to wash
  4. saw — the tool
  5. land — a country
  6. clip — for paper
  7. land — to come down
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. clip — a video
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chair — a leader
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. shower — rain
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. lean — thin
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. land — ground

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