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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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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: chest · cold · jam · hide · mouse · fan · mine · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mine — for digging
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. chest — of your body
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. chest — a box
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — a sports field

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