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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. march — the month
  9. wake — a trail
  10. march — music
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cap — of ice
  15. clip — for paper
  16. march — the month
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. plane — a tool
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. clip — a video
  24. fork — in a road

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