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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: pit · court · squash · clip · bat · bay · kid · ground

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. pit — in a race
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. kid — child
  7. court — of a king
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. court — of law
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. clip — to cut
  13. squash — to crush
  14. kid — to tease
  15. ground — the earth
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. ground — a position
  22. pit — a hole
  23. court — for sport
  24. squash — the vegetable

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