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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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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: wave · cold · stock · roll · fall · pitch · kick · lean

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — to bend
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pitch — completely
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. cold — an illness
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. roll — a cake
  10. kick — in football
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. lean — thin
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. roll — a list
  20. fall — the season
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — shares
  24. stock — a soup base

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