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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 116 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: nail · cell · cold · wind · spring · chip · suit · pitch

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. spring — the season
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. spring — of water
  9. chip — for betting
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chip — to eat
  12. suit — in cards
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spring — a coil
  15. suit — to fit
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. suit — clothes
  18. cell — in biology
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitch — completely
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. wind — moving air

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