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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: ruler · pitch · cold · bat · mouse · wind · fork · board

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. board — to get on
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. pitch — completely
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. board — a committee
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. fork — a garden tool

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