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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pitch — completely
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rash — a series
  5. fall — to drop
  6. shower — rain
  7. field — farmland
  8. kick — in football
  9. fall — to drop
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. cue — a signal
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cue — for pool
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cue — a hint
  23. fall — the season
  24. rash — on the skin

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