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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: bat · cold · season · pitch · kid · wind · bound · safe

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bound — certain
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bound — tied together
  13. wind — moving air
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. kid — child
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. kid — to tease

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