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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitch · wound · wake · capital · straw · season · ground · bear

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wound — an injury
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. ground — a position
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pitch — completely
  13. season — in sport
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. season — of the year
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. wound — an injury
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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