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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · mark · pitch · capital · clip · bay · roll · mouse

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. roll — a cake
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — completely
  6. mark — a grade
  7. clip — a video
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. capital — money
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. roll — a list
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. capital — a city
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. clip — to cut
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. deal — to handle

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