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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 120 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: drill · mouse · chest · cold · row · pitch · bound · spell

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bound — certain
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bound — tied together
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spell — magic
  11. row — a line
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bound — obliged
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. drill — army training
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spell — a short time
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spell — letters

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