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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: pitch · calf · race · trunk · band · clip · mine · kick

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. race — humankind
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. clip — a video
  7. band — a ring
  8. race — the arms race
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pitch — completely
  12. race — a contest
  13. band — a music group
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mine — for digging
  24. kick — in football

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