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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: nail · pitch · chest · arm · wind · cold · staff · rush

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. staff — employees
  3. wind — moving air
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wind — moving air
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. staff — a stick
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rush — hurry
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chest — a box
  19. cold — an illness
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. staff — employees
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cold — the Cold War

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