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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 120 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: straw · pitch · saw · rush · tear · tube · kid · bay

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. tear — to rip
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pitch — completely
  5. rush — hurry
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. saw — the tool
  15. kid — child
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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