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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: lie · nail · pitch · saw · race · clip · kid · stem

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. lie — to recline
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. race — a contest
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. pitch — completely
  12. saw — the tool
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kid — child
  15. race — the arms race
  16. clip — a video
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. clip — to cut
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. race — humankind

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