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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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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: racket · race · straw · face · chest · capital · wound · pitch

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. wound — an injury
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. face — to point toward
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. wound — an injury
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. race — humankind
  13. pitch — completely
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. capital — a city
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. race — a contest
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. capital — money
  21. chest — a box
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. race — the arms race

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