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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. last — final
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. hand — help
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fine — all right
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. game — a match
  17. last — finally
  18. lean — thin
  19. pitch — completely
  20. wake — a trail
  21. last — to go on
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. fine — high quality

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