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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: sharp · fine · clip · hand · pitch · prune · race · march

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. clip — a video
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. hand — help
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. fine — high quality
  9. clip — to cut
  10. fine — all right
  11. race — humankind
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. pitch — completely
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — for paper
  16. sharp — clever
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. prune — to trim
  19. race — a contest
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — the arms race
  23. prune — to trim
  24. hand — part of the body

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