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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. clip — a video
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pitch — completely
  8. mine — for digging
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fall — the season
  12. lean — to bend
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. fall — to drop
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. hand — help
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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