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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: leaves · chair · pitch · shower · face · stick · cold · band

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. face — part of the head
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. face — to confront
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. band — a ring
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. face — to point toward
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a music group
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. shower — rain
  19. chair — a leader
  20. shower — to wash
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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