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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: tear · chip · cold · mine · rush · pit · court · pitch

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chip — to eat
  6. court — for sport
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. court — of law
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. pitch — completely
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rush — hurry
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. pit — in a race
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. court — of a king
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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