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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. race — a contest
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fine — all right
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. race — the arms race
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fine — high quality
  14. race — humankind
  15. field — a subject
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — completely
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. bound — obliged
  22. clip — for paper
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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