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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: lean · wind · field · pitch · clip · press · hide · deal

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. lean — thin
  4. field — a subject
  5. clip — a video
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. clip — for paper
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pitch — completely
  13. press — to push
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. press — newspapers
  16. deal — to handle
  17. field — for sport
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. press — a publisher
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. lean — to bend
  23. field — farmland
  24. clip — to cut

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