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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 116 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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. board — to get on
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. season — in sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. board — a committee
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fork — in a road
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mine — for digging
  19. fall — the season
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bat — the animal
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. pitch — completely

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