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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stand — to bear
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitch — completely
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wind — moving air
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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