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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 120 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: can · pitch · bowl · fan · mark · rest · cold · chest

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rest — a break
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mark — a trace
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. mark — a grade
  13. pitch — completely
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. chest — a box
  21. rest — what's left
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. pitch — a sports field

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