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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 · pitcher · bat · fork · toast · race · mark · present

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. clip — to cut
  7. present — there
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. race — a contest
  13. mark — a grade
  14. toast — bread
  15. clip — a video
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. bat — the animal
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. present — the time now
  22. race — humankind
  23. present — a gift
  24. mark — a trace

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