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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: wound · leaves · fan · face · pitch · clip · cold · key

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. face — to point toward
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cold — not warm
  9. key — for a lock
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — an injury
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. key — in music
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitch — completely
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. key — the most important part
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. face — to confront
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. leaves — of a tree

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