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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. bat — the animal
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. race — a contest
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mate — a partner
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. pitch — completely
  21. craft — boats
  22. mate — to breed
  23. race — humankind
  24. pitch — a sports field

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