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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
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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: last · cell · cold · rush · pop · court · wake · pitch

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. last — final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pop — soda
  10. rush — hurry
  11. court — of a king
  12. cell — in biology
  13. last — finally
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cold — an illness
  24. court — for sport

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