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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 116 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: mate · cold · wake · shower · board · straw · pitch · pitcher

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — to breed
  7. board — to get on
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mate — a friend
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. shower — to wash
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wake — a trail
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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