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

Word bank: pitch · kid · degree · firm · straw · race

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pitch — completely
  3. firm — a company
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — temperature
  6. kid — child
  7. degree — an amount
  8. race — a contest
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. race — humankind
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. firm — steady
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. degree — from a university
  15. firm — decided
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pitch — a sports field

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