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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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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: pitcher · bat · cell · dip · cold · net · stand · can

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. dip — to sink
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. cell — in biology
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. cell — a phone
  13. can — to be able to
  14. bat — the animal
  15. net — after costs
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. stand — to bear
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. can — a tin
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. dip — a sauce

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