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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: pitch · clip · temple · bark · saw · fine · bat · wind

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. saw — the tool
  4. clip — to cut
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wind — moving air
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fine — high quality
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fine — all right
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. pitch — completely
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. fine — a penalty

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