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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: straw · plane · hand · ground · fall · pitch · suit · bat

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. fall — the season
  6. hand — help
  7. suit — to fit
  8. bat — the animal
  9. fall — to drop
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. suit — clothes
  13. pitch — completely
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. suit — in cards
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. ground — a position
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. ground — crushed

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