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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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Word bank
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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: jam · march · pitch · bat · can · clip

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. can — a tin
  6. march — the month
  7. can — to be able to
  8. march — music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. can — a tin
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. march — the month
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — the animal
  18. jam — in traffic

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