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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: bore · wind · present · pitch · track · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — moving air
  5. present — the time now
  6. track — to keep track
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. track — a path
  9. bore — to tire
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bore — to drill
  15. track — a song
  16. present — there
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. bore — gave birth

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