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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: pitch · kid · hand · pound · rash · wind · straw · mug

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mug — a cup
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. pound — a weight
  11. mug — a face
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. kid — to tease
  14. hand — help
  15. rash — a series
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pitch — completely
  20. rash — hasty
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kid — child

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