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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: wind · pitch · saw · march · vault · season · straw · cold

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. march — the month
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. wind — moving air
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. season — in sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cold — not warm
  16. march — music
  17. saw — the tool
  18. vault — a safe
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pitch — completely
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. march — the month
  23. season — of the year
  24. cold — the Cold War

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