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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bulb — for light
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bulb — for light
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cell — in a prison

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