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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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Word bank
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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cell — in biology
  3. season — of the year
  4. present — the time now
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. clip — a video
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pitch — completely
  15. clip — to cut
  16. season — in sport
  17. present — a gift
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. present — there
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. cell — in a prison

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