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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 · suit · pitch · chair · bat · row · face · fine

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. suit — in cards
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. chair — a leader
  8. suit — clothes
  9. fine — all right
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. row — a line
  13. suit — to fit
  14. row — to paddle
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bat — the animal
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. face — part of the head
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. fine — a penalty

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