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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 116 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: clip · last · bowl · pitch · kick · firm · land · patient

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. last — to go on
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — a video
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. clip — to cut
  9. land — a country
  10. kick — in football
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. firm — steady
  16. pitch — completely
  17. firm — a company
  18. last — finally
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. firm — decided
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. last — final
  24. bowl — a football final

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