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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitch — completely
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. spell — letters
  9. mate — to breed
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. mate — a friend
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fine — all right
  14. mate — a partner
  15. dip — to sink
  16. field — a subject
  17. chair — a leader
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. spell — magic
  22. fine — high quality
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. chair — to sit on

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