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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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Word bank
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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 · ground · pitch · pop · leaves · shower · firm · key

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. pop — to visit
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. firm — decided
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. firm — a company
  9. key — in music
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. pitch — completely
  12. key — the most important part
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. key — for a lock
  15. pop — soda
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — to wash
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. ground — the earth
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. firm — steady
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pop — music
  24. shower — rain

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