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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: season · plane · clip · bat · pit · present · row · fork

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. row — to paddle
  3. season — of the year
  4. clip — a video
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. present — the time now
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. fork — in a road
  11. row — a line
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pit — a hole
  19. plane — a tool
  20. present — there
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. clip — for paper
  23. season — in sport
  24. pit — in a race

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