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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. ground — a position
  2. present — a gift
  3. ground — the earth
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. clip — a video
  6. wound — an injury
  7. present — the time now
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pitch — completely
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — there
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. track — a path
  17. hand — in cards
  18. track — to keep track
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. track — a song
  23. hand — part of the body
  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