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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: bore · wind · present · pitch · track · cold · mate · pitcher

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. track — a path
  7. mate — a friend
  8. track — a song
  9. cold — not warm
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — there
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. present — the time now
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bore — to tire
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bore — to drill
  21. mate — to breed
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wind — to turn a key

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