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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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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: tear · pitch · fine · scale · rest · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fine — high quality
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. scale — in music
  8. fine — all right
  9. scale — size or range
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pitch — completely

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