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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: ball · pitch · mine · stand · bulb · cold · trunk · sharp

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. mine — for digging
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cold — an illness
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bulb — for light
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. sharp — clever
  14. pitch — completely
  15. ball — a dance
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. ball — a great time
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. trunk — of a tree

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