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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 120 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitch — completely
  5. present — there
  6. present — a gift
  7. pit — in a race
  8. squash — to crush
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cap — of ice
  13. bore — to drill
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. present — the time now
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cap — a hat
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cap — a lid
  24. bore — to tire

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