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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. lean — thin
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cap — a hat
  10. pop — soda
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — hurry
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cap — of ice
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. lean — to bend
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. pop — music
  24. cold — not warm

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