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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: clip · rock · row · mate · pitch · hand · game · key

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mate — a friend
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. mate — a partner
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — a video
  7. key — the most important part
  8. key — for a lock
  9. row — a line
  10. game — a match
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mate — to breed
  15. hand — help
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rock — a stone
  18. pitch — completely
  19. rock — music
  20. key — in music
  21. clip — for paper
  22. game — wild animals
  23. row — to paddle
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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