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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 116 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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. plane — a tool
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cell — in biology
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — an illness
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. rash — a series
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. calf — a young animal

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