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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: straw · wind · wound · cue · pitch · capital · kid · deal

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wind — moving air
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. cue — a signal
  6. capital — a city
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cue — for pool
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. cue — a hint
  19. kid — child
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. deal — to handle

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