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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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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: bat · stand · temple · pitch · snap · row · wound · key

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. key — the most important part
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. stand — to bear
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wound — an injury
  14. row — a line
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. key — in music
  21. key — for a lock
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. pitch — completely
  24. snap — to click

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