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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: clip · race · mouse · pitch · wind · kid

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. race — a contest
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. clip — to cut
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. clip — a video
  11. kid — child
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. pitch — completely
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. race — humankind
  18. mouse — the animal

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