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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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Word bank
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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: cold · suit · clip · hand · pitch · bat · jam · pit

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. hand — in cards
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. suit — clothes
  8. pit — in a race
  9. suit — in cards
  10. pitch — completely
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — help
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pit — a hole
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — for paper
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. clip — a video
  21. suit — to fit
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bat — the animal

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