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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: straw · roll · arm · row · mug · pitch · fork · race

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. row — to paddle
  6. race — a contest
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. race — humankind
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pitch — completely
  12. roll — a cake
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. mug — to rob
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mug — a face
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. row — a line
  21. roll — a list
  22. race — the arms race
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. mug — a cup

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