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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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Word bank
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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. swing — to play on
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. toast — bread
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. tube — the underground
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — to handle
  13. pitch — completely
  14. swing — music
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. cold — not warm
  18. swing — in golf
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — a container
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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