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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 · squash · cold · deal · wind · capital · field · cabinet

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pitch — completely
  3. cold — not warm
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. deal — to handle
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. squash — to crush
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. squash — the sport
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. capital — money
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. field — for sport

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