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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: clip · kid · shower · race · pitch · ruler

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. race — humankind
  9. pitch — completely
  10. kid — to tease
  11. clip — for paper
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — a contest
  14. kid — child
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. shower — rain
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. clip — a video

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