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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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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 · march · kid · pitch · bound · safe · present · cap

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cap — a lid
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pitch — completely
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. bound — certain
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cap — a hat
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. present — a gift
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bound — tied together
  14. cap — of ice
  15. present — there
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bound — obliged
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. march — music
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. present — the time now
  24. clip — a video

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