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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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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: drill · tear · pitch · clip · perch · temple · kick · fall

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. clip — for paper
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. drill — the tool
  6. fall — to drop
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. drill — a practice
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kick — in football
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. tear — from crying
  14. perch — the fish
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. tear — to rip
  18. clip — a video
  19. drill — army training
  20. fall — the season
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tear — from crying

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