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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pit — a hole
  11. stand — to bear
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pit — in a race
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. foot — a measure
  16. clip — a video
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kick — in football
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. date — the fruit

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