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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: lean · rash · pitch · wound · mate · pitcher · wake · nail

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. lean — to bend
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. lean — thin
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. rash — a series
  22. wake — a trail
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mate — to breed

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