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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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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: ball · nail · chip · cold · wind · rest · face · pitch

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. face — to confront
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — for betting
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rest — a break
  10. pitch — completely
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wind — moving air
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rest — what's left
  23. ball — a great time
  24. cold — the Cold War

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