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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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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: present · bat · clip · tear · lash · pitch · deal · last

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. pitch — completely
  9. present — there
  10. clip — for paper
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. tear — from crying
  13. clip — a video
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. deal — to handle
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. last — finally
  18. present — a gift
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — final
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. present — the time now

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