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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: cold · stick · key · pop · swing · pitch · cell · wound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — music
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. swing — music
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pop — to visit
  23. key — the most important part
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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