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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: wind · fork · last · hide · current · clip · mine · pitch

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. last — finally
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. current — of water
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. last — final
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. current — electric
  16. pitch — completely
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. clip — a video
  19. last — to go on
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. wind — moving air
  22. current — happening now
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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