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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 120 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 · land · cold · sharp · pitch · squash · pop · object

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. sharp — clever
  5. pop — soda
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bore — to drill
  8. object — to protest
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cold — an illness
  14. object — an aim
  15. object — a thing
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. land — to come down
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bore — to tire
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. pop — music

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