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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  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. cap — a lid
  2. rush — hurry
  3. mate — a friend
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cap — of ice
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cap — a hat
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rash — a series
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rash — hasty
  12. pitch — completely
  13. clip — a video
  14. mate — a partner
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mate — to breed
  23. chair — a leader
  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