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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · cold · pitch · calf · chair · perch

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — humankind
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. race — the arms race
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. race — a contest
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — completely
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. perch — the fish
  18. 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