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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: pitcher · root · cold · pitch · branch · cell · straw · cue

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cue — a hint
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cue — a signal
  11. root — the cause
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cue — for pool
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. cold — not warm
  17. root — of a plant
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. root — of a word
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cold — the Cold War

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