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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: sharp · wind · pitch · mate · pitcher · ruler · clip · cell

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  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. ruler — a monarch
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. mate — a friend
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pitch — completely
  20. cell — a phone
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. mate — to breed
  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