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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 · bound · wind · bulb · clip · chip · march · kid

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. bulb — for light
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. clip — a video
  8. chip — to eat
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — for betting
  11. march — the month
  12. bound — obliged
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wind — moving air
  16. march — music
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bulb — for light
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — tied together

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