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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · mine · leaves · prune · saw · cold · pitch · chip

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. prune — to trim
  5. saw — the tool
  6. chip — for betting
  7. chip — to eat
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mine — for digging
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. saw — the tool
  22. row — a line
  23. pitch — completely
  24. chip — in a computer

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