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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: club · clip · pitch · kick · file · tear

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitch — completely
  5. kick — in football
  6. club — for dancing
  7. clip — a video
  8. file — a document
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. file — a line of people
  13. club — for golf
  14. tear — from crying
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tear — to rip
  17. clip — for paper
  18. file — a tool

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