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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: bulb · stand · clip · kid · spell · race · swing · pitcher

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. kid — child
  3. clip — for paper
  4. swing — to play on
  5. race — a contest
  6. stand — to bear
  7. race — the arms race
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. spell — magic
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bulb — for light
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. kid — to tease
  14. race — humankind
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. spell — letters
  21. clip — a video
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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