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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: scale · deal · pitch · clip · march · foot · hide · cold

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. deal — to handle
  6. foot — a measure
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. clip — a video
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. march — the month
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. pitch — completely
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. scale — in music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. scale — size or range

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