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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 · race · chair · lie · shower · cold · swing · spell

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. race — the arms race
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. race — a contest
  8. lie — to recline
  9. shower — to wash
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — magic
  12. shower — rain
  13. swing — music
  14. chair — a leader
  15. race — humankind
  16. spell — a short time
  17. swing — to play on
  18. pitch — completely
  19. swing — in golf
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cold — not warm

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