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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: ground · cold · pitch · stand · kid · bass · mate · bore

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. 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. stand — on your feet
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bass — low music
  9. bore — to drill
  10. mate — a partner
  11. bass — the fish
  12. stand — to bear
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. kid — child
  22. ground — a position
  23. pitch — completely
  24. 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