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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ball · season · plane · mine · cold · pitch · chest · stand

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stand — to bear
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mine — for digging
  9. plane — a tool
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. pitch — completely
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. season — in sport
  19. season — of the year
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chest — of your body

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