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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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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: swing · chip · clip · march · wind · pitch · drill · deal

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. march — the month
  3. swing — in golf
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. clip — for paper
  6. deal — to handle
  7. chip — for betting
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. swing — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. swing — to play on
  13. chip — to eat
  14. drill — a practice
  15. clip — a video
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. march — the month
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. march — music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitch — completely

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