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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: pitch · deal · cold · row · file · fan · kick · tear

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. file — a line of people
  4. row — to paddle
  5. deal — to handle
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — not warm
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tear — to rip
  15. file — a tool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. file — a document
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. kick — in football
  21. row — a line
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. fan — a supporter

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