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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: press · game · rock · staff · pitcher · race · wind · straw

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. rock — music
  3. staff — a stick
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. race — a contest
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. press — a publisher
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rock — a stone
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. press — to push
  20. press — newspapers
  21. race — the arms race
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — employees
  24. straw — a straw man

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