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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. spell — a short time
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. spring — the season
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cold — not warm
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cold — an illness
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spell — letters
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. key — for a lock
  17. spell — magic
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cap — a lid
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. spring — of water
  22. key — in music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. spring — a coil

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