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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: season · firm · pitch · spring · fan · wind · cold · cue

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wind — moving air
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. cue — for pool
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — a company
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cue — a signal
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — in sport
  21. cue — a hint
  22. pitch — completely
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. spring — of water

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