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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 120 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 · hand · ball · file · pitch · branch · ground · bark

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. file — a document
  3. hand — help
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ground — crushed
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. ball — a great time
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. pitch — completely
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. branch — a division
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bark — to shout
  24. ball — a dance

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