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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: pitch · deal · cold · roll · track · spell · shower · bulb

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. spell — magic
  5. bulb — for light
  6. track — to keep track
  7. pitch — completely
  8. shower — rain
  9. roll — a cake
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cold — not warm
  12. deal — to handle
  13. spell — letters
  14. track — a path
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bulb — for light
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. roll — a list
  20. track — a song
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. spell — a short time

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