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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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468
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: fall · squash · coach · sharp · bat · row · straw · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fall — the season
  5. row — to paddle
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. pit — in a race
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fall — to drop
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fall — to drop
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. squash — to crush
  22. sharp — clever
  23. row — a line
  24. squash — the sport

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