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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: toast · clip · swing · pitch · calf · rest · kid · arm

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. swing — music
  6. kid — to tease
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. kid — child
  16. clip — to cut
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rest — a break
  19. swing — in golf
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. swing — to play on
  24. pitch — completely

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