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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  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. fall — the season
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. rash — hasty
  4. lean — to bend
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wax — to grow
  17. rash — a series
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. lean — thin
  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