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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: pitch · wind · cold · swing · race · fine

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. cold — not warm
  3. swing — in golf
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fine — all right
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. swing — music
  14. pitch — completely
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — to play on
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest

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