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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. season — of the year
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. season — in sport
  5. plane — a tool
  6. pitch — completely
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. bark — of a tree

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