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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: pitch · squash · cold · deal · wind · capital

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. squash — the sport
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. deal — to handle
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — an illness
  18. capital — a city

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