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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: straw · fork · field · rule · pitch · cue

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. pitch — completely
  7. cue — a hint
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cue — for pool
  11. field — a subject
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. rule — a law
  16. fork — in a road
  17. rule — government
  18. pitch — a sales talk

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