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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. stand — to bear
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. march — the month
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. net — in sport
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — after costs
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mine — for digging
  16. net — for catching
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month

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