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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wake · hand · pitch · date · lean · snap · mine · row

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. hand — help
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitch — completely
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. hand — in cards
  12. snap — to click
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. lean — to bend
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. row — a line
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. lean — thin
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. date — the fruit

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