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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: bay · pitch · cold · root · bowl · last · shower · track

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. root — of a plant
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. last — final
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. last — finally
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. last — to go on
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. track — a path
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. root — of a word
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. track — a song
  22. track — to keep track
  23. root — the cause
  24. cold — not warm

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