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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: wound · mate · deal · clip · bat · pitch · charge · staff

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. clip — a video
  3. deal — to handle
  4. staff — employees
  5. wound — an injury
  6. charge — electricity
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. staff — a stick
  9. pitch — completely
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. mate — to breed
  12. staff — employees
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. charge — in control
  15. mate — a friend
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bat — the animal
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. mate — a partner
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bat — in an idiom

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