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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: pitch · foot · club · wound · hand · pit · cold · cue

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cue — a signal
  3. club — for golf
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pit — in a race
  8. cue — for pool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — a group
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cue — a hint
  22. hand — help
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. wound — an injury

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