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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: club · race · fan · cell · pitch · dip · cold · roll

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. roll — a cake
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. cell — a phone
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cold — an illness
  9. roll — a list
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. club — for dancing
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cell — in biology
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. club — a group
  20. dip — to sink
  21. cold — not warm
  22. club — for golf
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. roll — on a roll

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