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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: pitch · bat · firm · club · arm · clip · prune · degree

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bat — the animal
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. firm — steady
  9. club — a group
  10. pitch — completely
  11. prune — to trim
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. club — for dancing
  15. degree — from a university
  16. firm — decided
  17. degree — an amount
  18. clip — a video
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. clip — for paper
  22. firm — a company
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bat — in an idiom

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