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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. cold — not warm
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. object — a thing
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. dip — to sink
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. land — a country
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. land — ground
  16. cold — an illness
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. snap — to click
  20. land — to come down
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. pitch — completely

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