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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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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: hide · snap · pitch · ground · spell · stem · patient · wind

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. ground — crushed
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. spell — letters
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. ground — the earth
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spell — magic
  11. ground — a position
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. pitch — completely
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. snap — to click
  20. spell — a short time
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. wind — moving air

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