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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 · rest · race · trunk · bat · deal · pitch · cell

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rest — what's left
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. rest — a break
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — the arms race
  11. clip — a video
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. race — a contest
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cell — a phone
  21. rest — what's left
  22. pitch — completely
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cell — in a prison

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