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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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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: sharp · bulb · pitch · row · wax · saw · hand · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. pitch — completely
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. row — a line
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wax — to grow
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bulb — for light
  14. saw — the tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. sharp — clever
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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