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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: pitch · fan · cold · mark · band · field · ball · cell

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cell — in biology
  7. mark — a grade
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cell — a phone
  10. field — for sport
  11. mark — a trace
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. band — a music group
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. field — a subject
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cold — an illness
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitch — completely
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. band — a ring

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