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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: dip · game · mine · pound · row · wound · straw · pitch

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. row — to paddle
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. game — a match
  12. row — a line
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitch — completely
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. dip — to sink
  22. game — wild animals
  23. wound — an injury
  24. row — a quarrel

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