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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 116 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: scale · mug · squash · clip · pitch · straw · race · rock

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mug — a face
  4. squash — the sport
  5. pitch — completely
  6. clip — to cut
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. rock — music
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. race — the arms race
  13. clip — a video
  14. scale — in music
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. scale — size or range
  20. squash — to crush
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. rock — a stone
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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