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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: chair · pitch · kid · rash · clip · nail · bore · bat

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bore — to drill
  6. rash — hasty
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. clip — a video
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bore — to tire
  18. pitch — completely
  19. chair — a leader
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. rash — a series
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. kid — child

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