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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 120 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 · row · straw · mate · clip · scale · racket · pound

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a partner
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. mate — a friend
  5. pound — a weight
  6. scale — size or range
  7. clip — for paper
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. pit — a hole
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. scale — in music
  15. pit — in a race
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. straw — dry grass

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