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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 116 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: pass · straw · pit · pitch · cabinet · field · content · cold

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — the amount
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. field — farmland
  11. content — happy
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pit — in a race
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pass — a permit
  20. field — for sport
  21. pitch — completely
  22. field — a subject
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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