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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 · bay · trunk · straw · season · pitch · date · stand

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. date — the fruit
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. clip — for paper
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — a video
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. season — in sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. season — of the year
  18. stand — to bear
  19. pitch — completely
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. clip — to cut

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