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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: plane · pitch · pop · rock · pitcher · bark · cold · straw

  1. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. pop — soda
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. rock — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rock — a stone
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pop — music
  12. bark — to shout
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cold — not warm
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. plane — a tool
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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