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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: land · pitch · clip · lash · date · kid · bore · race

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. pitch — completely
  4. race — the arms race
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. kid — to tease
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. bore — to drill
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kid — child
  15. land — ground
  16. clip — a video
  17. race — humankind
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. race — a contest
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. date — the fruit

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