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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: chest · pitch · season · pound · cold · calf · stand · row

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. season — in sport
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. stand — to bear
  22. pound — a weight
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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