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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: wound · wind · cap · last · pitch · bowl · chest · mate

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. last — finally
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cap — of ice
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. pitch — completely
  8. mate — a partner
  9. last — to go on
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cap — a hat
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. last — final
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wind — to turn a key

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