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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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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: squash · pitch · lash · key · straw · wind · cold · mate

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. mate — a partner
  14. key — in music
  15. key — for a lock
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. key — the most important part
  20. squash — to crush
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mate — to breed

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