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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 120 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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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 · fork · kick · stick · file · pitcher · capital · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fork — in a road
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. file — a tool
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. capital — money
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. kick — in football
  23. capital — a city
  24. kick — with a leg

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