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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · pit · spring · pitch · mine · ball · band · rule

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. pit — a hole
  3. ball — a great time
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pit — in a race
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rule — government
  11. band — a music group
  12. clip — a video
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. band — a ring
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. spring — the season
  20. ball — a dance
  21. spring — of water
  22. mine — for digging
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pitch — completely

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