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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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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: pitch · field · temple · kid · key · snap · clip · bulb

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kid — to tease
  4. key — the most important part
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. snap — to click
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. bulb — for light
  10. field — a subject
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. key — for a lock
  13. kid — child
  14. field — farmland
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. clip — a video
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. clip — to cut
  20. key — in music
  21. field — for sport
  22. bulb — for light
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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