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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: pitcher · ground · wind · rock · mine · cold · swing · object

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. ground — a position
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rock — a stone
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rock — music
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. swing — in golf
  16. object — a thing
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wind — moving air
  19. object — an aim
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. object — to protest

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