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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. cell — a phone
  3. firm — a company
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cell — in biology
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. chest — of your body
  18. kid — child
  19. cold — an illness
  20. firm — steady
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. firm — decided
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chest — a box

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