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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: bat · sharp · fork · clip · patient · race · pitch · root

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. race — a contest
  4. root — of a plant
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — humankind
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pitch — completely
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. root — of a word
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. clip — a video
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. sharp — clever
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — for paper
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bat — the animal
  23. root — the cause
  24. bat — for baseball

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