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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: bat · rush · march · pitch · file · clip · ground · fall

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitch — completely
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ground — crushed
  6. march — music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ground — a position
  9. march — the month
  10. clip — a video
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. ground — the earth
  15. file — a tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. march — the month
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rush — hurry
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. file — a document
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rush — to hurry

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