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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. march — the month
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. march — music
  9. row — to paddle
  10. clip — for paper
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. kid — child
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. kid — to tease
  18. clip — a video
  19. sharp — clever
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. march — the month
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. clip — to cut

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