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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: mate · clip · swing · fine · leaves · land · pitch · kid

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitch — completely
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. land — a country
  6. swing — in golf
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — all right
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. swing — music
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. clip — to cut
  16. kid — child
  17. mate — a partner
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. swing — to play on
  20. mate — to breed
  21. mate — a friend
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. land — ground
  24. clip — a video

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