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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — wild animals
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spell — letters
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. pitch — completely
  21. game — a match
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — magic
  24. straw — dry grass

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