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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 120 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: fan · pitch · squash · craft · hand · kick · clip · chip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. squash — the sport
  3. craft — a skill
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. craft — boats
  6. pitch — completely
  7. chip — for betting
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. chip — to eat
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — to cut
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. squash — to crush
  23. clip — a video
  24. fan — to cool the air

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