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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: snap · straw · last · object · pitch · game · bat · pound

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. game — a match
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. last — to go on
  6. pound — a weight
  7. snap — to click
  8. game — wild animals
  9. object — to protest
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. object — a thing
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. last — finally
  19. object — an aim
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. last — final
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pitch — completely

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