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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. pitch — a sports field
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. ground — the earth
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. shower — rain
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. ground — a position
  9. sharp — clever
  10. kid — child
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. clip — for paper
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — crushed
  18. press — a publisher
  19. kid — to tease
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — to push
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pitch — completely
  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