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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 tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  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. charge — a price
  2. pitch — completely
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. key — the most important part
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. key — in music
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wake — a trail
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. charge — in control
  12. bat — the animal
  13. file — a tool
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. key — for a lock
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. file — a document
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. rush — hurry
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. charge — electricity
  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