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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. branch — a division
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. fall — to drop
  12. file — a tool
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. file — a document
  19. lean — to bend
  20. lean — thin
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. file — a line of people

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