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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. clip — for paper
  3. file — a tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. clip — a video
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. key — the most important part
  8. bat — the animal
  9. file — a line of people
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pitch — completely
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. fork — in a road
  17. key — in music
  18. file — a document
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rule — government
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. key — for a lock
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — a law

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