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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitch — completely
  4. field — farmland
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cold — an illness
  14. field — for sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — a subject
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pass — a permit
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pass — to spend time

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