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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. clip — to cut
  4. march — the month
  5. snap — to click
  6. march — the month
  7. clip — for paper
  8. tube — a container
  9. degree — temperature
  10. march — music
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. degree — from a university
  13. clip — a video
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. fork — in a road
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. pitch — completely
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. degree — an amount
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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