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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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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: pitch · lean · degree · clip · racket · band · can · fan

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. band — a ring
  3. lean — to bend
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. pitch — completely
  7. band — a music group
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. clip — to cut
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. lean — thin
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. degree — from a university
  14. can — a tin
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. can — a tin
  18. degree — an amount
  19. can — to be able to
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. clip — a video
  24. racket — for tennis

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