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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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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 · hand · tear · chest · straw · pitch · club · kick

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. pitch — completely
  4. tear — to rip
  5. kick — in football
  6. sharp — clever
  7. chest — of your body
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. hand — help
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. club — for dancing
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. kick — with a leg

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