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

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. wind — moving air
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. stock — goods
  6. present — a gift
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. craft — boats
  9. stock — shares
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bat — the animal
  16. present — there
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. present — the time now
  20. craft — a skill
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. straw — dry grass

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