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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · content · dip · plane · march · straw · pitch · date

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. march — music
  8. date — the fruit
  9. dip — to sink
  10. content — the amount
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. rash — hasty
  16. march — the month
  17. rash — a series
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. march — the month
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. pitch — completely
  24. date — on the calendar

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