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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 120 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: trunk · race · pitch · fall · clip · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. race — a contest
  5. fall — the season
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. pitch — completely
  11. club — for dancing
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. clip — to cut
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. club — for golf
  18. pitch — a sales talk

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