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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: file · pitch · mate · clip · wake · hide · bowl · kid

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. mate — a partner
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. clip — a video
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitch — completely
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. mate — to breed
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. wake — a trail
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. kid — child
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. kid — to tease
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. mate — a friend
  24. file — a document

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