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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. clip — a video
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. cell — a phone
  6. court — of law
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. clip — to cut
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cell — in biology
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. ground — a position
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. clip — for paper
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. ground — the earth
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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