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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.

Words on the sheet
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: spring · straw · game · deal · board · row · pitch · bat

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. spring — a coil
  4. board — a committee
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spring — the season
  10. board — to get on
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. bat — the animal
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. row — to paddle
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. game — a match
  22. deal — to handle
  23. row — a line
  24. spring — of water

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