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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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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: wake · cold · rock · pitch · drill · stick · spring · saw

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitch — completely
  4. spring — the season
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rock — a stone
  11. spring — of water
  12. drill — a practice
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rock — music
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. drill — army training
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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