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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: swing · stand · land · lash · pitch · band · kid · clip

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — to come down
  6. stand — to bear
  7. band — a music group
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. clip — a video
  11. band — a ring
  12. pitch — completely
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. land — ground
  15. clip — to cut
  16. land — a country
  17. swing — to play on
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. kid — child
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. kid — to tease
  24. band — a rubber band

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