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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: clip · file · pitch · wound · bat · season · stick · kid

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. season — of the year
  4. clip — a video
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. season — in sport
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kid — child
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. file — a document
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. kid — to tease
  18. file — a tool
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wound — an injury

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