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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. clip — for paper
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. clip — to cut
  9. spring — of water
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. toast — bread
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. clip — a video
  16. spring — the season
  17. pitch — completely
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — the sport
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. squash — to crush
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rock — a stone

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