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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: pit · field · lean · pitch · kick · race · hand · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — farmland
  3. hand — help
  4. race — humankind
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lean — thin
  8. field — for sport
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. kick — in football
  13. lean — to bend
  14. field — a subject
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. race — a contest
  17. hand — in cards
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pitch — completely
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hand — part of the body

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