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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: cold · march · pitch · mine · row · hide · pop · bowl

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. pop — music
  19. pitch — completely
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pop — to visit
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. pop — soda
  24. hide — to keep secret

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