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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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: mine · row · pass · cold · bore · pitch · land · march

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bore — to tire
  4. row — to paddle
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. land — ground
  9. land — a country
  10. march — music
  11. land — to come down
  12. march — the month
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. bore — to drill
  18. row — a line
  19. march — the month
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pass — a permit
  24. mine — for digging

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