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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: cold · wind · shower · leaves · pitch · swing · charge · sharp

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. charge — electricity
  6. cold — not warm
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. sharp — clever
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. wind — moving air
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. cold — an illness
  16. shower — to wash
  17. swing — music
  18. charge — in control
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. pitch — completely
  21. shower — rain
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. charge — a price

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