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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: spell · date · pitcher · straw · pitch · rush · field · clip

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spell — magic
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. spell — letters
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rush — hurry
  12. field — farmland
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spell — a short time
  16. clip — a video
  17. field — a subject
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitch — completely

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