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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: mate · club · straw · pitch · stock · land · last · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. land — ground
  4. last — to go on
  5. land — a country
  6. pitch — completely
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for golf
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. stock — shares
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — a friend
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mate — to breed
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. land — to come down
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. club — for dancing
  24. stock — goods

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