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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.

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: cold · racket · sharp · lean · squash · march · pitch · game

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. lean — thin
  4. march — the month
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. march — the month
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. march — music
  11. pitch — completely
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — an illness
  17. game — wild animals
  18. sharp — clever
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. game — a match
  24. lean — to bend

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