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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: clip · bass · pound · bay · tear · tube · bat · pitch

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. pitch — a sales talk
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bass — the fish
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bass — low music
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. clip — a video
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. pound — a weight
  17. tube — a container
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bat — the animal
  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