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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 116 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: pitch · spell · clip · swing · lean · kid

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. kid — child
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — completely
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. swing — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. lean — thin
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. spell — letters
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. kid — to tease
  15. swing — in golf
  16. lean — to bend
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time

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