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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. ball — a dance
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. season — in sport
  15. object — to protest
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. season — of the year
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — a stick
  21. object — an aim
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. object — a thing

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