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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: present · pitch · band · swing · chair · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. present — a gift
  4. clip — for paper
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. swing — to play on
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. band — a ring
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. present — the time now
  12. swing — music
  13. band — a music group
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — completely
  17. swing — in golf
  18. present — there

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