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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 · bat · prune · mark · nail · cold · stem · hide

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mark — a grade
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stem — to come from
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. bat — the animal
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mark — a trace
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. pitch — completely
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. hide — animal skin

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