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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. cap — a hat
  3. pitch — completely
  4. cell — a phone
  5. swing — music
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. track — to keep track
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. field — a subject
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. field — for sport
  15. cap — of ice
  16. swing — to play on
  17. track — a song
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cap — a lid
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. field — farmland
  23. track — a path
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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