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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: jam · march · pitch · bat · can · clip · land · ground

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. can — a tin
  3. ground — crushed
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — ground
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. land — a country
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. ground — the earth
  13. march — music
  14. pitch — completely
  15. land — to come down
  16. ground — a position
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. can — a tin
  19. bat — the animal
  20. can — to be able to
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. march — the month

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