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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: net · spring · chest · rock · clip · lean · pitch · racket

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. rock — music
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. net — for catching
  6. spring — of water
  7. clip — a video
  8. lean — thin
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. chest — of your body
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. pitch — completely
  13. rock — a stone
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chest — a box
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. chest — of your body
  20. net — after costs
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. lean — to bend
  24. pitch — a sports field

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