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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: cue · chest · field · pitcher · spring · pitch · fine · straw

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitch — completely
  6. spring — the season
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — high quality
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cue — a signal
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. cue — a hint
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — a subject
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chest — a box
  23. field — for sport
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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