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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: suit · pitch · chest · field · snap · root · mark · cold

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. chest — of your body
  5. suit — to fit
  6. pitch — completely
  7. suit — in cards
  8. root — the cause
  9. field — for sport
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mark — a trace
  14. root — of a plant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — a subject
  18. chest — a box
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. root — of a word
  21. field — farmland
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. suit — clothes

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