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

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. pop — soda
  9. cap — of ice
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — music
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cap — a lid
  21. plane — a tool
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pop — to visit
  24. coach — a trainer

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