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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: chest · cold · rule · coach · pitch · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rule — a law
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — moving air
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. pitch — completely
  9. chest — a box
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. rule — government
  17. chest — of your body
  18. coach — pulled by horses

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