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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hide · lean · capital · cold · pitch · mug · row · saw

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. mug — to rob
  3. row — a line
  4. capital — money
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. saw — the tool
  7. lean — to bend
  8. cold — an illness
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. mug — a face
  11. saw — the tool
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — thin
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pitch — completely
  19. capital — a city
  20. cold — not warm
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. mug — a cup
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. capital — a big letter

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