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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 116 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: pitch · kid · rule · clip · fall · content · mouse · ground

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. clip — for paper
  11. content — happy
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. fall — the season
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. clip — a video
  18. rule — a law
  19. ground — a position
  20. rule — government
  21. pitch — completely
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. ground — crushed

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