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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cold — an illness
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. plane — a tool
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. pitch — completely

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