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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: rock · game · clip · pit · tear · wound · pitch · band

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pit — in a race
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. pitch — completely
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rock — a stone
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. game — a match
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. game — wild animals
  14. clip — a video
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wound — an injury
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. rock — music
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pit — a hole
  24. clip — for paper

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