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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 120 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rush — hurry
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — letters
  11. saw — the tool
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. pound — a weight
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. spell — magic
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cold — the Cold War

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