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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 120 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. stand — to bear
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mate — a partner
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mate — to breed
  8. spring — the season
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spring — of water
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. rock — a stone
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mate — a friend
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. shower — rain
  20. rock — music
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rock — to move gently
  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