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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: cabinet · band · squash · face · pitch · snap · clip · field

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — to cut
  7. band — a music group
  8. clip — a video
  9. band — a ring
  10. field — for sport
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. field — farmland
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. face — to point toward
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. snap — to click
  21. field — a subject
  22. pitch — completely
  23. face — to confront
  24. clip — for paper

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