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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mug — to rob
  6. face — to confront
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. row — to paddle
  10. mug — a face
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. face — to point toward
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — part of the head
  19. clip — for paper
  20. staff — employees
  21. pitch — completely
  22. row — a line
  23. mug — a cup
  24. mine — an explosive

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