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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. row — to paddle
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. row — a line
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. game — a match
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wake — a trail
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — completely
  24. plane — a tool

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