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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: toast · march · straw · staff · wound · fan · pitch · spring

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. toast — the most admired
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. spring — of water
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. staff — employees
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. staff — a stick
  11. march — music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. staff — employees
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. toast — bread
  21. march — the month
  22. spring — the season
  23. straw — a straw man
  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