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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: mug · track · wound · pitch · wind · season · last · bat

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. last — to go on
  3. track — to keep track
  4. last — final
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. season — in sport
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mug — to rob
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wound — an injury
  12. track — a path
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. last — finally
  19. pitch — completely
  20. track — a song
  21. mug — a face
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mug — a cup
  24. season — of the year

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