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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: fork · bat · straw · deal · bound · nail · cold · pitch

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitch — completely
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. deal — to handle
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bat — the animal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bound — tied together
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. bound — obliged
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bound — certain

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