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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — an illness
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. land — ground
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bore — to drill
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. wind — moving air
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. land — a country
  20. face — to confront
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bore — to tire
  23. pitch — completely
  24. land — to come down

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