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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.

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: staff · spring · wind · spell · leaves · cold · tube · pitch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spell — letters
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spring — the season
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. staff — employees
  10. spell — magic
  11. tube — the underground
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spring — of water
  14. tube — a container
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. spring — a coil
  17. staff — employees
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. cold — not warm
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wind — moving air
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. wind — moving air

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