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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: bay · straw · clip · kid · pitch · kick · spring · staff

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. spring — the season
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. kick — in football
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — a stick
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kid — child
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — of water
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

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