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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.

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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: wind · pitcher · stand · cold · wound · fine · face · pound

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — a weight
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. stand — to bear
  15. wind — moving air
  16. face — to point toward
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. fine — all right
  24. cold — not warm

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