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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: march · row · straw · snap · pitch · bulb · nail · wound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — to paddle
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — the month
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. row — a line
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. snap — to click
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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