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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: pitch · cap · wind · prune · snap · game · lie · clip

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cap — of ice
  3. prune — to trim
  4. lie — to recline
  5. snap — to click
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. clip — a video
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — a match
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pitch — completely
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. clip — to cut
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. game — wild animals
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cap — a hat
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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