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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: bark · capital · clip · hand · pitch · board · trunk · rush

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. capital — money
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. board — to get on
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. clip — a video
  14. board — a committee
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rush — hurry
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. capital — a city
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pitch — completely

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