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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: ball · pitch · snap · root · chest · straw · march · spring

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. root — of a plant
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. chest — of your body
  8. root — the cause
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — a coil
  14. ball — a dance
  15. march — the month
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. root — of a word
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. pitch — completely
  20. chest — a box
  21. ball — a great time
  22. snap — to click
  23. spring — the season
  24. straw — a straw man

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