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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 116 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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. hand — help
  3. drill — a practice
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. prune — to trim
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. fine — high quality
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fine — all right
  22. hand — in cards
  23. drill — the tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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