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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 116 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: land · sharp · race · staff · cold · stem · pitch · squash

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. race — a contest
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. staff — employees
  5. land — ground
  6. sharp — clever
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. race — humankind
  11. land — to come down
  12. pitch — completely
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — the arms race
  19. squash — to crush
  20. land — a country
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — an illness
  24. staff — a stick

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