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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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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: pitch · patient · net · hide · straw · present · cold · arm

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. net — in sport
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. present — a gift
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. net — for catching
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. net — after costs
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. cold — an illness
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — there

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