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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: coach · mine · bulb · clip · rule · hand · last · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. clip — to cut
  6. mine — for digging
  7. last — final
  8. bulb — for light
  9. rule — government
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. last — to go on
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. bulb — for light
  16. clip — a video
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. hand — help
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rule — a law
  24. last — finally

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