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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: pitch · firm · cold · current · season · field · rule · last

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rule — government
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. last — to go on
  5. rule — a law
  6. field — a subject
  7. season — in sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. last — finally
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — final
  12. current — electric
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — completely
  16. current — of water
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. firm — decided
  19. current — happening now
  20. firm — a company
  21. season — of the year
  22. field — farmland
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. firm — steady

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