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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: straw · net · squash · chair · pitch · kid · hand · ruler

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. pitch — completely
  3. kid — child
  4. net — for catching
  5. hand — help
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. hand — in cards
  18. kid — to tease
  19. squash — the sport
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. chair — a leader

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