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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: content · club · hand · foot · march · clip · pitch · race

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. club — for dancing
  4. content — happy
  5. club — a group
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. club — for golf
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. hand — help
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — for paper
  20. march — the month
  21. foot — a measure
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. hand — in cards
  24. content — the amount

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