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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: wake · pitch · march · wind · fall · cold

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. march — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. fall — the season
  18. cold — an illness

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