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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. pitch — completely
  3. bat — the animal
  4. scale — in music
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. scale — size or range
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. kick — in football
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. season — in sport
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. season — of the year

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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