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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 · mate · track · race · pit · squash · chest · clip

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chest — a box
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pit — a hole
  7. race — humankind
  8. track — a path
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. clip — for paper
  12. track — a song
  13. squash — to crush
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. race — a contest
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mate — to breed
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. squash — the sport
  22. track — to keep track
  23. clip — a video
  24. mate — a partner

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