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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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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: cold · plane · clip · pitch · wave · mug · object · pit

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. pit — a hole
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitch — completely
  12. mug — to rob
  13. object — an aim
  14. mug — a cup
  15. cold — an illness
  16. plane — a tool
  17. object — to protest
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pit — in a race
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. object — a thing
  24. plane — an aircraft

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