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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. band — a ring
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. field — for sport
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pitch — completely
  9. band — a music group
  10. snap — to click
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. field — a subject
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. field — farmland
  21. dip — to sink
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. branch — of a bank

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