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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: kid · track · wave · branch · clip · pitch · capital · dip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. kid — to tease
  4. track — to keep track
  5. capital — money
  6. pitch — completely
  7. track — a song
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kid — child
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. clip — to cut
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. capital — a city
  15. dip — to sink
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. branch — a division
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. clip — for paper
  24. track — a path

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