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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: temple · pitch · row · bat · swing · clip · rash · vault

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. clip — a video
  4. vault — a safe
  5. rash — hasty
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. clip — to cut
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. row — to paddle
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. rash — a series
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. swing — to play on

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