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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: stem · sharp · ground · dip · wind · cold · roll · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. ground — crushed
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. roll — a cake
  9. ground — the earth
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. wind — moving air
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. dip — to sink
  16. ground — a position
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. roll — a list
  24. stem — to come from

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