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

Word bank: pitch · capital · cold · foot · kick · stand

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. stand — to bear
  12. cold — not warm
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. foot — a measure
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kick — in football
  17. cold — an illness
  18. foot — the bottom

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