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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: date · hand · wind · pitch · fall · season · deal · fork

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. season — in sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. hand — help
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. fall — the season
  15. date — the fruit
  16. pitch — completely
  17. deal — to handle
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. hand — in cards
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fork — in a road
  24. season — of the year

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