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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: mark · pitch · cold · court · arm · stock · clip · lash

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. court — for sport
  9. mark — a trace
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. clip — a video
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. court — of a king
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. cold — not warm
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stock — shares
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. pitch — completely
  22. mark — a grade
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. clip — to cut

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