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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: wake · last · straw · pitch · plane · row · cell · swing

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. last — final
  3. plane — a tool
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. cell — a phone
  14. swing — music
  15. row — a line
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cell — in biology
  19. last — to go on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. last — finally
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wake — a trail

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