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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. current — of water
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pitch — completely
  7. fall — to drop
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. stem — to come from
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. current — electric
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. current — happening now
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. fall — the season
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. clip — a video

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