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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: fork · pitch · hand · bat · straw · pitcher · present · toast

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. present — a gift
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. hand — help
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. fork — in a road
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. toast — bread
  20. pitch — completely
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pitch — a sports field

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