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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 120 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: pass · row · pitch · shower · cold · squash · capital · calf

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. row — a line
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pass — a permit
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. squash — the sport
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. squash — to crush
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. row — to paddle
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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