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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: rule · pitch · game · kid · tube · date · band · straw

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. pitch — completely
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. date — the fruit
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. kid — to tease
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. rule — government
  11. tube — the underground
  12. band — a music group
  13. rule — a law
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. tube — a container
  23. kid — child
  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