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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 116 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: kick · clip · pitch · race · bank · chair · court · staff

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. staff — employees
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bank — for money
  11. race — a contest
  12. staff — a stick
  13. race — humankind
  14. kick — in football
  15. staff — employees
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bank — for money
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. court — of law
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. court — for sport
  24. race — the arms race

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