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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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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: row · wake · pitch · tube · hand · squash · kick · march

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. hand — help
  3. march — the month
  4. kick — in football
  5. row — to paddle
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pitch — completely
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wake — a trail
  11. march — the month
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. squash — to crush
  18. row — a line
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. tube — a container
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. march — music
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. tube — in a tire

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