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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: kid · pitch · fall · spring · cold · mug

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mug — a face
  6. kid — to tease
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. kid — child
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. mug — to rob
  15. spring — of water
  16. fall — the season
  17. mug — a cup
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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