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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: present · stock · wound · pitch · cabinet · club · cold · roll

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. club — for golf
  4. cold — an illness
  5. club — a group
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cold — not warm
  9. roll — a cake
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. present — the time now
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. pitch — completely
  15. present — there
  16. wound — an injury
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — goods
  20. present — a gift
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. club — for dancing
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. roll — a list

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