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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fork · plane · straw · spring · leaves · pitch · bass · capital

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. bass — low music
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. plane — a tool
  10. capital — a city
  11. spring — of water
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. capital — money
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. pitch — completely
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. fork — in a road
  20. bass — the fish
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. spring — the season
  24. leaves — to go away

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