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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. stem — to come from
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — a video
  8. chest — a box
  9. last — to go on
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. last — finally
  14. clip — to cut
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. deal — to handle
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. clip — for paper
  23. last — final
  24. chest — of your body

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